SourCream loaf

Finally, I found time to try out a new recipe from Bakespace. However, I added some bal Gelatinized Dough (烫种面团) in order to utilize whatever that’s left from previous baking. End result was ok because it’s soft enough to make some sandwiches out of it, but still not as soft as d Hokkaido loaf.

½ cup low-fat milk
1/3 cup sour cream
1 large egg
1 tbsp butter, softened
3 cups bread flour
3 tbsp sugar
5g / 1 tsp salt
2 tsp yeast
60g Gelatinized Dough (烫种面团)

Put all d ingredients into my ABM & select basic white loaf setting

Buttersquash Loaf

I found out abt Happy Flour’s blog thru BH’s blog & have alrdy tried few of her recipes. However, not every one turns out ok.

So here’s 1 that turn out really, really soft & fluffy - sweet potato crown bread.

Overnight Sponge Dough: (yield about 150g)
100g bread flour
60g water (room temperature)
1/4tsp instant yeast

1. Mix yeast with water until well blended.
2. Add in flour & knead to form dough.
3. Cover & set aside to prove for 30mins.
4. After 30mins, keep it in d fridge to rest overnight or up to 48hrs.

Bread Dough:
(A)
300g bread flour
40g sugar
3g salt
1 1/2tsp instant yeast

(B)
140g water
30g egg

(C)
60g overnight sponge dough

(D)
120g sweet potato (steamed and mashed) (I replaced with buttersquash)
30g butter

(E)
100g golden raisins

Being lazy me, I just put all d ingredients into my ABM & select basic white loaf setting.

Miso Clam Soup

After d 1st try-out using clam as soup base, I starting searching d web for more clam broth recipe & decided to try this recipe out. Hubby & Hayden loves it!

• 2 dozen clams, scrubbed
• 1½ tbsp Miso paste
• 2 tube egg tofu, cut into 1/2 -inch cubes
• 1 med scallions, thinly sliced crosswise

1. Rinse d clams at least 3 times to rid d sand/grit. Fill a pot with just enough water to cover d clams be4 bringing it to boil. Off d heat & remove d meat for later usage, discard d shells.
2. Pour d clam broth through a strainer into a bigger pot. Add more water to make up 1.8l & whisk in d miso until smooth. Bring soup to a simmer over moderate heat. Add tofu & cook for 4mins.
3. Return clams to soup to heat through. Sprinkle the scallions on top and serve immediately.

Sneaky Chef's Fried Rice

Was trying to lower the utility cost for d household so am trying not to use the slow cooker too often. And with my recent new part-time job, am running out of new ideas/recipe for dinner. So for tonite, I was browsing through my recipe ‘book’ (actually it’s the notes that I have on my iphone), I saw this recipe from Sneaky Chef’s book that I have never try be4. Even though I don’t have some of the ingredients, I decided to go ahead & substitute with whatever I have in d fridge. Hayden helped with the scrambled egg & because he helped, he actually mgd to finished his bowl of rice. Guess that shd give this recipe a thumbs up???

• 1 large egg
• ¼ cup white puree (subs w/green puree)
• *whisk to2g be4 scrambling it with ½ tbsp oil
• ½ small onion, minced/puree
• 1 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
• 1 cup cooked ckn/ham/beef/pork/shrimp (subs w/3ckn hotdogs)
• 2 cups cooked rice, cold
• ½ tbsp soy sauce
• ½ cup peas (subs w/thawed mixed veg)

Heat 1 tbsp oil & stir-fry minced onion/garlic/ginger for abt 2mins
Add meat & stir-fry another 2mins
Add rice & soy sauce. Toss to combine well
Add scrambled egg & veg only 1 min be4 finish cooking.

Green Puree – Serve 2 cup (I usually freeze them in batches of ¼ cup)
2 cup raw baby spinach leaves
2 cup broccoli florets + 1 cup sweet green peas
* steam broccoli for abt 10mins; add peas @ d last 2mins
** or microwave broccoli in a bowl covered with water on high for 8-10mins; add peas @ d last 2mins

Pulse spinach 1st, then add broccoli/peas & puree with 1-2tbsp water till smooth.
Can be freeze for up to 3mths
Can be added into beefy soups or stew

Waterchestnut Carrot Soup

I have tried quite a few water chestnut soup recipes & this is just another simplified version. Very suitable for d recent weird weather.

• 10 cups water
• 12 water chestnut
• 8 red dates, stoned
• 1 big or 2 med carrots
• 500g lean pork (subs with black ckn)

Simmer for 2-3hrs

Light Mac & Cheese pasta

This is another Sneaky Chef’s recipe. Very easy & fun to prepare. In fact, it’s so easy, Hayden help made this dish.
End result – a very cheesy dish, definitely a kid’s fav!

• 1½cup evaporated skim milk
• ¼cup white puree
• 113g white cheddar
• 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• ½tsp honey mustard (I omitted this)

*Cook all over low heat.
Then add 4 cups of cooked elbows/small pasta & stir to combine well. Serve hot.

Teriyaki Veg/Mushroom

Another lazy day, didn’t really want to try anything new so I used a tested recipe with new ingredients.

End result – a very tasty veg dish served on top of rice. Very nice..

2 tbsp olive oil + 200g fresh veg + 200g fresh Shiitake
1/3 cup teriyaki sauce + 1/3 cup white puree + 1 tbsp honey (whisk to2g)
4 green onions, sliced
Heat oil over med heat & sauté shiitake/onion for abt 3mins.
Add sauce mixture & veg, cook for abt 2mns or till onion is cooked.
Serve over rice.

Chayote, Corn, Mushroom in Clam broth

Chayote, Corn, Mushroom in Clam broth (佛手瓜, 玉米, 蘑菇, 蛤肉汤)
I saw this recipe from BH’s blog & went ahead to give it a try. It’s actually quite a mild flavor soup. MIL likes it but hubby finds it too plain. So on my next try, I actually added fresh clams & what a big diff it made! Hubby loves it! In fact, his words were “ yr soup had definitely improved by a GAINT step!” Wow!

So here’s my modified version.

• 20-25 fresh clams (soak them in salt water 2-3hrs be4 use)
• 500 pork ribs
• 200g agrocybe aegerita (茶树菇)
• 1 large chayote
• 2 fresh corns (I normally used only d kernels)
• 1.5 - 2 litre of water

1. Trim away the ends of d agrocybe aegerita be4 washing & soaking them in water.
2. Wash & cut d chayotes into cubes, pluck out d kernels from d corn after washing.
3. Blanch pork ribs/lean meat.
4. Rinse d clams at least 3 times to rid d sand/grit. Fill a pot with just enough water to cover d clams be4 bringing it to boil. Off d heat & remove d meat for later usage, discard d shells.
5. Pour d clam broth through a strainer into a bigger pot.Add more water to make up 1.8l.
6. Add all ingredients in it & bring to boil. Once boil, switch to med heat & continue boiling for 30 min. Then reduce to small flame & simmer for 2 hrs.
7. No salt is needed as d clam broth is tasty enough.

Sweet & Tangy Ckn

I can’t remember where I got this recipe from, so, if any of u can remember, do advise me so that I can credit it back to d originator.
Hubby finds it bit too sweet for him but both MIL & Hayden likes it.

Ingredients (serve 4)

• 1 ½ cup barbeque sauce
• ½ can pineapple chunks + juices
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 skinless, chicken thighs

In a large bowl, mix barbecue sauce, pineapple with juice, green bell pepper, onion, & garlic. Arrange 2 of d ckn thighs in d bottom of a slow cooker. Pour half of the barbecue sauce over it. Place remaining ckn into slow cooker, & pour remaining sauce over d top. Cover & cook on Low for 8-9 hrs

Clever Ckn Teriyaki_Sneaky Chef's

As mentioned in my earlier post that am into Sneaky Chef’s cookbook recently. Most of Sneaky Chef’s recipes r all quite easy, except that, u will need to pre-prepare 1 of the ingredients 1st. It is d ‘secret (healthy)’ ingredient that usually requires pre-preparation using d blender. But since they can be freeze up to 3mths, it’s ideal to prepare lots of it @ 1 go & pop it into d freeze till requires. For this recipe, I used d white puree which was prepared ytd.

End result – a very tasty & healthy dish.

White puree

• 2 cups cauliflower florets – steam abt 10mins
• 2 small zucchini – peeled & chopped
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Pulse zucchini & lemon juice 1st, while steaming d cauliflower. Then add d cooked cauliflower & puree till smooth. Add 1-2 tbsp of water if required.
U can also add raw yellow squash along with d cauliflower to be pureed. Just peel & remove d seeds of d squash.

• Clever Ckn Teriyaki
• 2 tbsp olive oil + 450g ckn tenders
• 1/3 cup teriyaki sauce + 1/3 cup white puree + 1 tbsp honey (whisk to2g)
• 4 green onions, sliced

1. Heat oil over med heat & sauté ckn for abt 5mins.
2. Add sauce mixture & onions, cook for abt 2mns or till onion is cooked.
3. Serve over rice.

Healthy version of Jaime Oliver's basic bread recipe

I have been trying out lots of recipes from famous chef & recently, am into Sneaky Chef. Basically, all her recipes have ‘secret (healthy)’ ingredients that most children hate to eat. But she manages to ‘hide’ them well enough that children don’t know they r eating something healthy. There’s this 1 sneaky method that I really like – healthy version of flour blend. She used this for most of her pancakes & muffin recipes. I like d idea of Hayden eating wheat germ & whole wheat so I gave it a try by using this healthy flour blend for his wkend donuts. Hayden took 4 mini donuts that day! I was really happy abt it so I decided to try more recipes using this healthy version of flour blend. Well, sad to said but out of the 7 times I tried incorporate this flour blend into some of d bread recipes, I had to throw away 6 uneatable loaves. And d 1 loaf that was eatable, Hubby said it’s too dry for him.


So, it’s not always that easy but I really didn’t want to just give up like that so I decided to give it another go using Jamie Olive’s basic bread recipe. I hope that by just starting at d basic, I might just be able to figure out what really is needed to make this healthy version bread a success. Therefore, I made modifications along d process as I watch d bread maker knead d dough. And when Hubby tried d end result, it was considered a success! Phew!
So here’s d recipe for anyone who wants to give it a go.

Sneaky Chef's Healthy version of flour blend

• 1 cup of All-purpose flour
• 1 cup of whole wheat flour
• 1 cup of wheat germ

Mix all together for later usage. It can also be kept in d fridge for up to 3mths.

Jamie Oliver’s basic bread recipe (modified)

• 4 cup bread flour
• 3 ½ cup Healthy flour blend
• 3 tbsp (30g) yeast
• 2 tbsp honey or 30g sugar
• 110ml warm milk + 400ml tepid water
• 26g salt

Put all into d bread maker & select basic cycle for 1kg load. Check after 5mins & add 2-3 tbsp of water if dough is too dry. But from past (failure) tries, less water is needed if using wheat germ so try not to pour all d water in so fast.

Beadings

Recently a friend of mine is into bead rings & that re-knead my past interest in breading. Few yrs back, I was asked to help out in my co’s charity event to make beads accessories. It was fun back then & we grp ard making lanyard & hp accessories. So now, out came all my left-over beads from back then, & along with some books borrowed from d local library, am ready to try out my long-forgotten skills in beading again.
Here’s what I mgd to figure out within 9hrs (btw 3days) with my limited beading knowledge.
Not too bad for someone who has not done a bead ring be4. ^_^

this is what they called a Angelina ring






This one is called Flora
These 2 r called 5 Petals

Chicken Broth - Jamie Oliver's

Have been making my own ckn broth & this time, I decided to give Jamie Oliver’s version a try.
End result – so much tastier than my old version. I cant believe adding herbs & a rasher of bacon can made so much diff!

• 1.5kg ckn
• 2 carrots
• 2 sticks celery
• 1 rasher of smoked bacon
• 2-3 sprigs of fresh Rosemary
• Handful of shitake mushrooms
• Port of sea salt
• Olive oil

Put ckn, carrot, celery & bacon in a pot cover with water. Bring to boil. Low heat & simmer 1¼ hr, skimming white residue off top now & then.
Add Rosemary & mushroom only in d last 10 mins.
Season with salt if desired

Poached Ckn - Jamie Oliver's

At 1st, I don’t quite understand what ‘poaching’ really meant. Then when I saw this recipe in Jamie Oliver’s book, I went online to have a better understanding of ‘poaching’.
Turn out ‘poaching’ is a process where food is gently simmering in liquid. To me, isn’t this just like cooking in d slow-cooker? So does this means that I have been ‘poaching’ all this while whenever I used d slow-cooker?
End result – very tasty soup esp with d nice smelling fennel.

• 2kg ckn
• Handfull of flat-leaf parsley
• 4 bay leaves
• 2 handful new potatoes
• 2 handful baby carrots
• 2 handful baby turnips/radishes
• 1 blub fennel
• 2 handful peas
• 2 handful broad beans
• 1 handful of spinach
• 1 tsp salt

*stuff herbs into ckn, cover ckn with enough water by abt 1inch. Scatter in potatoes & bring to boil. Cover & simmer 20mins.
Then add carrots, turnips/radishes, & fennel (herby top remove & reserve). Simmer another 30-40mins.
Remove ckn & add peas, beans &spinach. Cook 1 min & serve with ckn, sprinkle fennel top & olive oil.

Coconut Stewed Ckn

Weather is really heating up! Really need something to cool down! Coconuts! Yes! Had this recipe for d longest time & cant really remember where I got it from. I think it might have be from a Chinese mag.
End result - tasty enough for Hayden to asked for 2nd helping!

• 1 young coconut
• 1kg ckn
• 1 stalk lemongress (cut into section)
• 6 bowls water
• 5 slices ginger
• 1 stalk spring onion
• rice wine for taste

cut upper part of young coconut, pour out juice & scoop out flesh
Rinse ckn. scald Ginger, spring onion & rice wine in boiling water. put in ckn, scald for a while. remove & drain.
Put ckn, lemongrass & coconut flesh into coconut, pour in juice & water, bring to boil.
Switch to low heat & stew 3hrs. add seasoning be4 serving.

Banana Honey loaf - Jamie Oliver's

Since am not allow to feed Hayden d Layered Focaccia loaf, I decided to try out another Jamie Oliver’s recipe – banana honey bread.
End result – bread was not soft enough for me & I cant really taste/smell d bananas at all. Maybe d sizes of d bananas were not correct. I’ll still post d recipe here in case anyone is interested to give it a go.

• 1 basic bread**
• 6 banana
• 8 tbsp runny honey
• Handful of almonds (opt)

**30g yeast + 2tbsp honey + 625 ml banana mixture + 1kg strong bread flour + 30g salt

Peel & purée banana. Top up mashed mixture with water to 625ml.
Put basic ingredients binto d bread maker.
Add half d honey w/nuts @ d start of dough making.
Be4 baking, drizzle rest of honey over d dough top to caramelize.
Bake in preheated oven @ 190c 20mins.

Stir-fry Corn - Jamie Oliver's

Another super easy recipe from Jamie Oliver – Stir-fry corn.
End result – a very, very tasty dish! Thumbs up!

• 400-500g corn kernels (abt 3 corn)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp chopped Ginger
• 1 tsp chopped chili (optional)
• Handful chopped parsley
• 1-2 tbsp soy sauce

Stir-fry them together till cooked, abt 8-10mins

Layered Focaccia loaf - Jamie Oliver's

Another Jamie Oliver’s recipe – Layered Focaccia
End result – a very cheesy loaf! Hubby find it too salty & advised me not to let Hayden try. So in d end, I had to freeze it up & had it for my BF for 1wk. But I loved it! D herbs really give it a very fresh unique taste. it might not look good (cause I replaced 1cup flour w/raw wheatgrem), but good enough for me.

• 1 basic bread recipe **
• 170g parmesan cheese, grated
• 200g fontina/cheddar, grated
• 140g mild gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
• 2 handful rockets
• 1 handful fresh marjoram, leaves picked
• Olive oil

**(30g yeast + 30g honey + 625ml warm water + 1 kg strong bread flour + 30g salt)
Put basic bread ingredients into bread maker & select dough function.
Roll out & fold/tuck rest of d ingredients into d dough after 1st prove.
Rub top with little olive oil & rip over some fresh sage/thyme.
Allow 2nd prove.
Bake in preheated oven @ 180c 25mins.
Let it sit for 25 mins be4 eating.

Bamboo Water Chestnut drink

Was walking ard d local supermkt when I chanced upon some sugar-cane. That’s when I remembered I have just bought some water-chestnut ytd for soup. But with d weather so hot, some sugar-cane + water-chestnut drink shd be better. & I even mgd to locate a recipe online which is quite similar to my recipe.

• 15 - 20 water-chestnuts
• 10-15 sticks palm-length sugar cane
• 1 branch pandan leaves, washed
• 100 gram of rock sugar

Remove water-chestnut’s skin, washed & soaked in clean water for 1 hour or longer in order to get rid of d bacteria/micro worms that are hidden inside d flesh.
Scrubbed sugar cane & peel off d skin.
Put all (except rock sugar) into d slow-cooker & simmer for abt 1-2hrs on low heat. Switch off d heat & put in d rock sugar. Allow to dissolve be4 serving it warm or chilled.

Beef Stew - Jamies Oliver's

This recipe is from 1 of Jamie Oliver’s cookbook. Need I say more, super easy, simple & fuss-free recipe for working mums. Ingredients list might look long but most items can easily be found in any-one’s kitchen, with d only exception of d parsnip. As I was not able to find parsnips this rd, I replace it with corn kennels (which gives a better color to d dish).


Ingredients

• Olive oil
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 onion, peeled & chopped
• Handful of fresh sage leaves
• 800g stewing beef
• Some flour to dust
• 2 parsnips + 4 carrots + 1/2 butternut squash
• 500g small potatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• ½ btl red wine
• 285ml veg stock
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Handful Rosemary, leaves picked
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped

Fry onion & sage w/ butter 3-4mins.
Toss meat in flr, add to d pan w/ all veg, purée, wine & stock. Stir together & season. Bring to boil, covered & simmer 3-4hrs till meat is done.
Mix zest, Rosemary & garlic together & sprinkle be4 serving

Asparagus Omelette

Was @ d local library browsing through some recipes books when I came across this v simple asparagus omelette recipe & decide to give it a try. Problem is – I copied down d recipe but forgotten to incld chef’s name! Thus, if any of u remember or have seen this be4, pls do drop me a comment so that I can credit this back to d correct chef.

End result – both Hayden & MIL had 2nd helping!

Ingredients

• 2 eggs + ½ cup milk
• 2tbsp grated Parmesan
• 200g asparagus

Mix d eggs & milk in a bowl.
Slice asparagus into small bits, leaving only d top part. Then boil them for abt 8mins, or when they turn bright green. Drain & set aside.
Heat up d non-stick pan & spoon in ½ cup egg mixture. Roll it rd d pan to spread out into a thin layer be4 adding asparagus. Sprinkle it over with parmesan & remove from pan.

Cream Cheese loaf, again

Friend passed me some bal flours to use up & it’s all in small qty. So, I decided to use all for another cream cheese bread attempt.
End result – not too bad an attempt but loaf is not as soft on d 3rd day.

• 160g water/fresh milk + 1tsp lemon juice
• 250g flour (25g cake flr, 115g APF,110g bread flr)
• 60g cream cheese
• 20g unsalted butter
• 15g sugar
• 3g salt
• 3g yeast

Put all into bread maker on fast loaf cycle. If u prefers soft crust, do not remove from bread maker after cycle ends. Just leave it there overnite

FrogLeg rice w/Lily bulb

In my previous attempt on d frog legs rice, I bought d wrong ingredient. So for tonite, I mgd to get d right fresh lily bulb鲜百合for testing. However, after reading d instruction on d package, I understand that fresh lily bulb is best eaten raw for its goodness. If cooking is required, try keep at d minimum. So, for my frog leg rice, I actually only added d lily bulb 1min be4 rice cooker timing ends.
End result – d fresh lily bulb added a very nice crunch to d dish! Even Hayden took a few slices of it with d rice! MIL loves it too! Hurray!

Ingredients same as previous, just replaced d lotus seed with d fresh lily bulb.

Apple & Pear dessert

On d very same nite, I also made some sweet dessert in order to used up d bal apple & pears be2 they get spoiled. I decided to use this apple/pear soup recipe but change it by replacing d meat with rock candy (冰糖) instead. Even with d modification, I understand it’s still very effective for soothing throats & removing phlegm.
End result – too sweet for me but both Hubby & MIL loves it.

• 1 apple, peeled & de-cored
• 2 sand pears砂梨, peeled & de-cored
• 4 candied dates蜜枣, washed
• 10g sweet & bitter almonds南北杏, washed
• 1l water
• 400g lean meat (replaced with 25g rock candy冰糖)

Put all into slow cooker & cook over low heat for 3-4hrs. Better effect if serve warm but can be drink chilled.

Water Chestnut soup

Another soup therapy which is supposed to be good for soothing cough & remove phlegm. This 1 tasted more like a soup as compared to d罗汉果soup. Hayden loves it.

• 10cups water
• 12 water chestnut
• 8 red dates
• 1 big or 2 med carrots
• 500g lean pork

Put all into d slow cooker & cook over low heat for 2-3hrs.

罗汉果西洋菜汤

Hayden started coughing again so I decided to try out this soup therapy which is suppose to effective in soothing throats & removing phlegm. It has d nutritious of d watercress too.

End result - a very sweet soup! Thus, will reduce d LHG by half next time.

1 LuoHanGuo罗汉果

500g lean pork

200g watercress西洋菜

2 candied dates蜜枣

1.8l water

1. Rinse LHG, wrap in a bag & smash. Rinse pork & cut into big pieces. Separate watercress leaves from stem & rinse.


2. Pour water into slow cooker. Add stem, pork, LHG & dates & cook over low heat ½hr.


3. Lasrly, add leaves & cook further ½hr.

Left-over Veg soup

Another recipe from d Women’s Wkly mzg. This recipe is very low in fat (2.7g) & calories (275cal). It also used up whatever bal veg u have in d fridge.

• 2 cups veg stock
• 250g corn cob, trimmed
• ½cup bal veg
• 1 small carrots
• 30g snow peas
• 1 green onion, sliced thinly
• Add 500g lean meat if u preferred stronger taste.

Bring stock to boil be4 adding corn/veg/carrot. return to boil be4 reducing heat & simmer (covered) for abt 15mins. then stir in rest of ingedients & simmer (uncovered) for another 2mins.

Veg Stock

I saw this soup recipe in d Women’s Weekly mzg & decided to give it a try since it’s suppose to be part of a detox program…

End result – a very tasty soup even on its own. Hayden had 1 ½ bowls of it! Will take d pix d next rd.

Veg Stock original ingredients (I halved all of it)

• 2 med onions 300g
• 3 med carrots 360g
• 3 med parsnips 750g
• 2 med turnip 450g
• 1 small fennel bulb 200g
• 1 large red capsicum 350g
• 1 trimmed celery stalk 100g
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 black peppercorns (I omitted this)
• 4l water
• 1 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley

Put all (except d parsley) into a slow cooker & cook over low heat for 4-5hrs. Then add parsley & simmer for 1hr more be4 serving.
Stock can be kept, covered, for up to a wk in d fridge. It’s also suitable to freeze for up to 3 mths.

Frog Congee with Lotus seed

With Hayden still coughing away, I decided to give this frog leg congee recipe from Amelia Liang’s Hearty Congee recipe book. Even though I have copied it onto my phone’s notebook, I still bought d wrong ingredient but I just went ahead & try it. Also, instead of congee, I cut it short by putting all into d rice cooker to go d lazy way.

End result – very tender legs! & Hayden took 1½ bowls of it!

• 4 frogs - washed & cut into bit pieces.
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 tbsp mirin
• 5 slices ginger

Marinate these overnite in d fridge.

• 1½ cup rice
• ½ cup lotus seeds

Rinse rice, drain & leave it aside for 15mins rinse lotus seeds & drain. Put rice into d rice cooker & pour in ard 1¾ cups of water. Add d marinated frogs & drained lotus seed onto d rice. Cook on fast cycle cause it’s not advisable to overcook d frog legs. If desired, add d marinated seasoning too but its good enough without it too.

MIlk Cupcake

As Hayden has not been feeling well past wk, thus, I decided to steam up some cupcakes for him. This rd, I added raisin to it but Hayden still preferred w/o raisin.

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Been trying to search d web but am not able to figure out where I got this recipe from. So if any of u recognizes it, do tell me where it’s from so that I can credit it back to d recipe’s owner.
End result – a very tasty dish. Definitely a keeper for being so easy & simple.

Ingredients

• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 500g collar pork
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cups sliced carrots
• 1 small red potato
• ½ cup snow peas
• ¼ cup chopped parsely

Directions
In a slow cooker, mix cream of mushroom soup, chopped onion and pot roast.
Cook on High setting for 3 to 4 hours, or on Low setting for 8 to 9 hours.
Add vegetables 1.5 hours before it's done.

芫荽鱼头豆腐汤

Was surfing d ard when I saw that my fav blog has posted a new soup recipe so I gave it a try today.
End result - It’s not that bad except that it’s a bit too oily due to d frying. Maybe next time I use less oil on a non-stick pan..

Ingredients:

姜片 : 3 – 6片 Ginger slices
鱼头: ½ 个/ 1个 (洗净, 用少许盐涂抹鱼头) Fish head - washed & season with little salt
米酒: 15g rice wine
水: 700ml water
嫩豆腐: 2块 (切小块) tofu, diced
盐、胡椒粉 : 适量 salt & pepper - small amt
芫荽: 5束 (洗净切段) Coriander 5 stalk

1) 烧热2汤匙爆香姜片
Heat 2 tablespoons & sauté d ginger
2) 投入盐腌制过的鱼头煎至金黄色时, 盏入米酒
Add d salted fish head & pan-fry till golden be4 adding d wine
3) 加入水煮至汤沸腾, 约15-30分钟至汤变成奶白色
Then add water be4 bringing to boil, abt 15-30 mins until soup turn into a milk white color
4) 放入豆腐煮约5分钟后
Add tofu & cook abt 5 mins
5) 加盐和胡椒调味, 撒入切成段的芜茜即可
if desired, add seasoning. Top with Coriander be4 serving


功能
有祛风清热, 开胃健脾的功效不寒不燥, 适合一家大小饮用如受风寒或淋雨后, 或长期在冷气房, 常感觉头痛,身痛, 鼻塞等, 可再加青葱(大颗的葱白效果更好)煮食效果更好

Function
Relieve/dispel pathogenic wind, clear internal heat, whet d appetite, & strengthen d spleen
Not cold or dry, thus suitable for whole family consumption
For those who :
a) was subjected to cold weather or rain;
b) was spending long hrs in air-conditioned rooms;
c) often feels headache, body pain, nasal congestion and so on,
Can add scallion or big green onions for a even better result/effect.

Mini Donuts_II

Hayden kept asking for d donuts this morning so I decided to give it another go. But this time, I made some modification to try out using self-rising flour instead of all-purpose flour. I also added thicken cream cause I do not have large egg on-hand. Success! At least half of d batch were. I think it’s mainly because I was still afraid to fill d hole too much, thus, d uneven result. But at least half looks ‘tall’ enough & even color throughout.

Adjusted ingredients

• 75g self- rising flour
• 35g sugar
• 2 tbsp coco powder
• 60ml fresh milk
• 15ml thicken cream
• 1 egg
• 2tbsp unsalted butter (melted)

Method same as previous rd.

SB Marshmallow Cake & Milk Cupcakes

Hayden’s birthday is today so last nite, with no oven, I decided on making d SB marshmallow cake for his sch. However, I was only able to make a much smaller one so to ‘top’ it up; I also steam some milk cupcakes to bring along.
For this rd, I decided to use orea cookies as base since most of his classmate will be under 3yrs. However, even though I have made this quite a number of times, I was still unable to ‘catch’d right timing & thus, some of d cut strawberries sunken into d cake since it's not 'frozen' long enough. I tried to ‘save’ it but d cake is alrdy in ‘unsaved’ mode. I still went ahead & ‘cover’ it up with d jello. Hopefully, none will notice it.
As for d steam cupcake, I used 2 diff flavor pkt milk for a colored effect - Strawberries & Milo. Also, this time, I top up d batter till almost overflowing & mgd to get d ‘smiling’ effect after steaming! Job Well Done!
Hayden took 1 as BF & loved it! This is really a big improvement cause he rejected d last rd of unsmiling cupcake. Hurray!!!

Baked mini Donuts

Bought this donut maker during my last wk in Bkk & decided to give it a try last nite. However, as I have mis-read d recipe, d end pdt was not very good looking – flat & discolored. D recipe requested for 10ml but I have spooned only 6-7ml onto d cup because it’s alrdy overflowing to d side! Thus d flat looking donuts. But am not able to explained d 2-tone color.

But Hayden loves it! He finished 7 pieces during d walk from home to his sch!

• 75g All-purpose flour
• 35g sugar
• 2 tbsp coco powder
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 75ml fresh milk
• 1 egg
• 30g unsalted butter (melted)

1. Preheat donut maker for 5 mins.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl be4 adding d wet ingredients.
3. Stir till well mixed & smooth.
4. Fill each hole with 10ml of batter.
5. Close the lid and lock the latch.
6. Bake for 2 mins. Allow to cool & if desired, coat with icing sugar or top with jam for a sweeter version.

Milk Cupcake_Steamed

Saw this recipe on Blessed HomeMaker’s blog few days ago. It stated no mixer or oven needed, which is perfect for me! So here goes.

End result – a very rounded (same as BH’s previous attempt) Dome shape cupcake. Not smiling at all! ;-( In fact, it looks more like d originator Aunty Yochana's end pdt. So am not really sure if it's considered successfully or a failure. Both MIL & Hubby said it's good, strong milk flavor. But Hayden rejects it without even tasting it. Maybe I shd make it more presentable to kids & offer it to him again. Since it’s such an easy recipe & only yields 8 small cupcakes, am willingly to give it anther go, in fact, very soon.

• 170 g Fresh Milk (mixture of 1 pkt full cream (110g) & bal low-fat)
• 60 g sugar
• 100 g cake flour
• 20 g rice flour
• 2 tsp double-action baking powder

Whisk d milk & sugar till sugar has dissolved.
Add in remaining ingredients & stir well.
Spoon into small cups lined with paper liners/muffin cup.
Steam at high heat for 10-13 mins, or until cooked.
Remove and cool on wire rack.

Hokkaido Milky bread

Was shopping ard d supermkt & decided to make some changes to d Hokkaido Milky bread recipe by making it a bit more healthy by replacing ½ cup of bread flour with raw wheatgerm.
Wheat germ is d heart of d wheat. It has a nutty flavor & is also cholesterol/sodium free. It’s also full of nutrition. Just 2 tbsp serving will provide:
a) 2g of dietary fiber;
b) 13% of d recommended daily value of folic acid;
c) 10% of d recommended daily value of phosphorus, magnesium & zinc; and
d) 15% vitamin E

End result – a super fluffy loaf but d middle top collapsed. So am not really sure does that means my modification is successful or a failure.

• 500 g Bread flour
• 40g raw wheat germ
• 60 g Cake flour
• 10 g Yeast
• 30 g Milk powder
• 80 g sugar
• 9 g Salt
• 1 Egg
• 250 g Fresh milk
• 150 g heavy cream

Put all ingredients into d ABM & select normal cycle with light crust.

Jpn Stir-fry Pork w/onions

I saw this on a TW cooking program & decided to give it a try since it's supposed to be super easy & healthy. But end result, d sauce looked too thick. I think I might have coated d sliced pork with too much flour. However, hubby said it’s quite good, esp when served with hot rice.

• 400g sliced pork - dont slice too thin
• 1 cup of tapioca flour
• 2tbsp olive oil
• 2 big yellow onion – slice up
• 3 tbsp Jpn soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Mirin
• ½ cup veg stock (optional)
• ½ tbsp sugar (optional)

Heat up d wok with d olive oil. Coat d pork with flour be4 putting them into d heated wok. Then add d sliced onions & stir-fry for few mins till onions has soften. Add all d sauces into d wok & stir-fry till pork is cooked through. If u prefer more sauce, just add more soy sauce or stock.

Cream Cheese Bread 6th attempt

After a long break, this is my very 1st post from Spore. I have been buz meeting up with old friends & cleaning up after d move back home. Then my shipment arrived last wk & I have been busy unpacking. So far, ½ d boxes has been opened & flated. But now am struck with no more spaces to house d bal stuff so am leaving them in d boxes till I figure out where to put them. But d most important thing is – I managed to located d ABM & baked my 1st loaf last nite!

With limited ingredients, I decided on d cream cheese bread recipe since I was given a block of cream cheese from a friend. However, for reason unknown, I added 21g of egg yolk into d ABM be4 realizing that d original recipe does not even asked for egg??? D fact is – I even bother to separate d yolk from d white & weight out both to c which is closer to 20g & used it with d rest into d freezer. Mmmm???
Anyway, by d time I realized my mistake, I have alrdy started d ABM so I decided to add another 1½ tbsp of cake flour to bal out d dry/wet ratio.
End result – a surprisingly fluffy loaf! However, d crust was a bit too thick for me, soft but too thick. Other than that, it actually turns out great!

• 160g water/fresh milk
• 250g bread flour +

1½ tbsp cake flour

50g cream cheese

20g unsalted butter

21g egg yolk

10g powder milk

15g sugar

3g salt

4g yeast

Put all into bread maker on fast loaf cycle. If u prefers soft crust, do not remove from bread maker after cycle ends. Just leave it there overnite.