Pumpkin & Pork Balls Porridge

During days where I feel lazy to cook individual dishes, I will prepare this which I called 'one pot' porridge for lunch/dinner :P As said being lazy so I did not measure/write out the exact quantity for each ingredient needed....is it tasty or just simply feeling hungry?.. my boy asked for 2nd serving after finish his 1st bowl of porridge :)

Ingredient

• rice
• millet
• stock
• minced pork (marinate lightly with sesame oil, light soya sauce, pepper & cornflour)
• pumpkin (peeled & cubed)
• salt & pepper to taste
• extra sesame oil for serving

Method

1. Rinse rice & millet thoroughly. Place rice & stock into a pot. Bring to boil and cook for 10mins.
2. Add pumpkin and cook for 5mins or until tender.
3. Shape marinated minced meat into small round balls. Drop into porridge. Cook till meat balls are cooked through.
4. Add salt & pepper to taste. Turn off heat.
5. Drizzle some sesame oil before serving.
   

冬瓜雪梨汤

Weather is kind of erratic nowadays!! sometimes rain like cats & dogs, sometimes so sunny...really can fall sick easily..feel like getting sick soo0n as throat kind of sore :( hope this soup will help to 'cool' down my body...

Ingredient

• 4 chinese pears 雪梨
• 650gm wintermelon 冬瓜
• 40gm sweet almond 南杏
• 20gm bitter almond 南杏
  
• 40gm lily bulb 百合
• 3 candied dates 蜜枣
• 300gm lean pork
  
• 2000ml water
• salt to taste
  

Method

1. Wash pears and cut into quarters.
2. Wash melon and cut into chunks.
3. Rinse almonds, lily bulb & candied dates.
4. Blanch lean pork in boiling water. Drain away water.
5. Place all ingredient except salt into a pot. Bring water to boil. Lower heat and simmer for 1.5hrs. Add salt to taste.
   

Fruit Pastry Cake

A gorgeous looking cake baked by Happy Home Baking blog. Though my cake does not looked as beautiful as her but this does not affect the taste of the cake! light & tasty fruit pastry cake!...

I did not thaw the frozen cranberries enough thus the liquid seeped onto the cake -.-" does not look so bad after dusting with some icing sugar :P Cake standing tall as I used a 8" cake pan instead of the suggested 9" size. The use of top flour also result the cake texture to be very light & fluffy.

Ingredients

• 100g butter, soften at room temperature
• 200g caster sugar (I used 180g)
  
• 50g sour cream (I used natural yogurt)
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 210g plain flour (I used top flour)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 500g fruits* tossed with 2 tablespoon sugar*
  

(You can use strawberries, blueberries, peaches, bananas, oranges, pears, apples, pineapple, or any other fruits that are not too juicy. I omitted the sugar and used as much fruits, either fresh or canned, as needed to fill the top of the cake)

Method

1. Wash, cut (chunks or slices, as desired) and drain fruits, toss with sugar (if desired) and set aside. (if using canned fruits, wash the fruits to remove the syrup, omit the sugar).
2. Grease (with butter) and flour the side of a 9" round pan or a 8" square pan and line the base with parchment paper. (I used a 8" round pan)
   
3. With an electric mixer, cream butter, sugar and sour cream (or yogurt) till light and fluffy.
4. Dribble in the eggs gradually and beat till incorporated in the batter. (The mixture may appear slightly curdled.)
5. Add vanilla extract and zest. Mix to combine.
6. Sieve over flour and baking powder and mix till smooth.
   
7. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth out the top with a spatula.
8. Arrange fruits on top, don’t press the fruits down into the batter. Decorate the fruits as desired.
9. Bake in pre-heat oven at 180degC for 60-70 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the cake. Cover the top with foil in the last 15 mins of baking to prevent the top from getting over browned.
10. Leave the cake to cool in the pan for about 5~10 mins. Unmold and transfer to wire rack to let cool completely. Dust the cake with some icing sugar if desired.

黄酒鸡

这是产后妇女必吃的一道滋补的坐月菜肴。所需的材料有甘邦鸡，老姜，黑木耳 及 最重要的就是自制的黄酒！ 我可没这本身在家酿酒 :)， 这些甘甜的黄酒是我父亲向人讨教学来的！一点要注意的是，煮黄酒鸡时无须加任何开水， 黄酒就足够了。这样烹煮出来的黄酒鸡才会浓郁香甜！

Ingredient

• 1 kampong chicken, chopped 甘邦鸡
  
• 2 cups softened black fungus 黑木耳
  
• 2 tbsp finely sliced ginger 老姜
  
• 3 tbsp sesame oil 麻油
  
• 2 cups homemade wine, 黄酒
• 2 tbsp wolfberries, softened 枸杞子
  
• salt to taste

Method

1. Heat sesame oil in a claypot. Add ginger and saute for a min till fragrant.
2. Add chicken pieces and stir-fry for 2 mins. Add black fungus and mix evenly.
3. Add wine and bring to boil. Lower heat，cover & simmer for 30mins till chicken is tender.
4. Add wolfberries and simmer for another 5mins. Add salt to taste. Serve.
   

Apple Walnut Bread

Another simple & tasty bread loaf to share! Apples can be omitted to make into a simple walnut bread. As no yeast is required in this recipe, the texture is not as fluffy as normal bread, it almost has a cake-liked texture but yet not as soft....confuse & clueless?? hehehe then you have to try baking this bread loaf and find out how the texture like....

Other variations for making this bread loaf (omit apples & cinnamon powder):
(a) Apricot Bread : add 1 cup chopped dried apricots
(b) Banana Bread : add 1 cup mashed bananas
(c) Orange Bread : subsitute 1 cup orange juice for the milk & add 1 tsp orange zests
(d) Chocolate Bread : add 50gm melted chocolate



Ingredient

• 250gm plain flour
• 100gm sugar
• 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 250ml milk
• 3 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
  
• 1 1/4 cup walnut, chopped
• 1 large green apple, peeled & chopped

Method

1. Sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon & salt. Combine with sugar and set aside.
2. Combine milk, egg, oil & vanilla essence together.
   
3. Stir in liquid mixture into dry ingredients.
   
4. Fold in 1 cup walnuts & apple. Pour batter into a well greased 9" x 5" loaf pan. Sprinkle 1/4 cup walnut over the surface.
5. Bake in preheated oven at 180 deg cel for 60mins or until toothpick inserted into centre comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10mins. Remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.
   

Brown Mushroom Omelette

Ingredient

• 10 brown mushrooms, sliced thinly
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 eggs
  
• 1/3 tsp dried mixed herbs
• salt & pepper to taste

Method

1. Beat eggs with herbs. Add salt & pepper.
   
2. Heat some oil in frying pan. Saute garlic, add mushroom. Stir fry for 2mins. (do not add water, the mushroom will release its natural juice)
3. Spread out mushroom evenly in pan. Pour in beaten eggs to coat the mushroom. Cook for 3 mins or until surface almost set. Half fold the omelette and continue to cook for another minute.
   

粉葛玉蜀黍汤

Kudzu Root also known as Pueraria Root or Chinese term 粉葛，葛根. It is a starchy root traditionally use in Chinese medicine for treating colds and improve immune system. A sweet tasting soup without even a need to add salt :)

Ingredient

• 700gm Kudzu Root (粉葛), peel & cut into chunks
• 200gm carrots, cut into chunks
• 1 sweet corn, cut into chunks
• 250gm pork ribs
• 2 candied dates, 蜜枣
  
• 2500ml water
  
• salt to taste (optional)

Method

1. Blanch pork ribs in boiling water. Rinse with cold water.
2. Place all ingredients except salt in a large pot. Bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer for 2 hours. Add salt to taste.
   

Nutritious Porridge

Ever wonder how many types of grains are there in the world? Take a look at this site (http://www.foodsubs.com/Rice.html), you will be amazed by the varieties of rice available besides the usual white grain rice we consume everyday! In fact polished white rice is not as nutritious compare to brown rice and other whole grains as most fibre & minerals have been striped. Therefore to make plain porridge more nutritious, I've added other grains like Buckwheat (荞麦), Millet (小米) and Quinoa (pronounced as Keen-Wah). Luckily my boy is not a fussy eater, he finishes all the porridges I've prepared for him :)

Buckwheat Porridge (荞麦粥)
Ingredient

• 1/3 cup buckwheat
• 1/4 cup rice
• 4 cups ikan bilis stock (can use chicken stock or just water)
  

Method

1. Rinse buckwheat & soak in water for 2hrs.
2. Wash rice and combine buckwheat in a pot with 3 cups stock. Bring to boil.
   
3. Simmer for 20 mins. Add some more stock if the porridge is too thick.

Nutritious Value & Recipe on Buckwheat:
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=11
http://www.foodnetwork.com/topics/buckwheat/index.html

Quinoa Porridge
Ingredient

• 1/3 cup Quinoa (keen-wah)
• 1/3 cup rice
• 5 cups stock
  

Method

1. Rinse quinoa & rice over a sieve and place in a pot. Add stock and bring to boil.
2. Simmer for 15-20mins until cooked.
   

More recipes on Quinoa :
http://www.quinoa-recipes.com/Quinoa_Pages/What_Is_Quinoa.html
http://ecuadorexplorer.blogspot.com/2008/12/quinoa-grain-of-andes.html
http://southamericanfood.about.com/od/glossaryofterms/g/quinoanew.htm

Millet Porridge (小米粥)
Ingredient

• 1/4 cup millet
• 1/4 cup rice
• 5 cups water
  

Method

1. Rinse millet & rice over a sieve.
2. Place rice in pot of water and bring to boil. Cook on medium heat for 15-20mins.
   

Nutritious Value & Recipe on Millet:
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=53
http://www.milletrecipes.com/
http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,millet,FF.html

Brown Rice Pork Ribs Porridge (排骨糙米粥)
Ingredient

• 1/2 cup brown rice
• 250gm pork ribs
• 5 large seedless red dates
• 1500ml cups water
• salt to taste
  

Method

1. Rinse brown rice thoroughly and soak in water for 2 hrs.
   
2. Blanch pork ribs in boiling water.
3. Place water, pork ribs and red dates in a pot. Bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer for 1 hr. Add brown rice and simmer for 45mins-1hr till rice is softened. Add salt to taste.

Strawberry Jam & Cheese Cupcakes

Ingredient

• 110gm unsalted butter
• 85gm sugar
• 2 eggs
• 115gm self-raising flour
• 1/2 tsp strawberry emulco
• some strawberry jam
• some cream cheese, diced
  

Method

1. Combine all ingredients except jam & cheese in a mixing bowl. Using a electric whisk, beat on high speed until smooth & pale for 3 mins.
2. Spoon some batter into cupcake cases. Place a tsp of strawberry jam and diced cream cheese over the batter , spoon Bake in preheated oven at 180 deg cel for 25mins till golden brown.

淮山煎蛋

Fresh Chinese Wild Yam (鲜淮山, 山药) is low in calories and is believed to have anti-aging properties and other health benefits like lower blood pressure/blood sugar and improve digestive system. When peeling off this root vegetable, it is advisable to wear a hand glove as it can cause itchiness to the skin.

This is how a fresh wild yam looks like....

freshly grated wild yam, it got a sticky texture...

Ingredient

• 400gm fresh wild yam (淮山)
• 70gm carrot, coarsely grated
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• dash of pepper
  
• 3 cloves garlic, minced

Method

1. Peel and coarsely grate wild yam. (wear a hand gloves to prevent itchiness).
2. Mix all ingredients together and mix evenly.
   
3. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a shallow frying pan, spread mixture over the pan and pan-fried for 5 mins, flip over and cook till golden brown.
   

Quick Bread

A bread loaf without using yeast nor proofing time, fast to whip up and without using electrical whisk!


Banana Raisins Loaf

Ingredient

• 85gm butter, melted
• 100gm sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas
• 3 tbsp milk
• 200gm plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
  

Method

1. Beat butter, sugar & eggs until sugar is well dissolved.
2. Stir in banana & milk.
3. Fold in sifted flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt.
4. Fold in raisins & walnuts.
5. Pour batter into a greased 9x5inch loaf pan and bake in preheated oven at 180 deg cel for 60mins or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.(cover surface with foil at the last 25mins to prevent over browning)
   
6. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

Steamed Meat Patties

Ingredients

• 200g minced meat
  
• 3 water chestnut, roughly chopped
• 3 tbsp grated carrot
• 2 tbsp black fungus, softened & finely chopped
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp light soya sauce
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp cornstarch
  
• dash of pepper

Methods

1. Combine all ingredients with seasonings in a mixing bowl. Mix ingredient thoroughly. (I use my hands to knead the mixture).
2. Place the mixture on a steaming tray and flatten it with a spoon.
3. Cover the tray with cling wrap and chill it in the fridge for at least 30mins.
4. After chilling, steam on high heat for about 20 mins or until cooked.

黑豆熟地汤

Ingredient

• 1 cup black beans
• 35gm Foxglove Root (熟地)
• 250gm pork ribs
• 2500ml water
  
• salt to taste

Method

1. Rinse and soak black beans for 1 hr.
2. Blanch pork ribs in boiling water. Rinse with cold water.
3. Place soaked black beans, 熟地, pork ribs in a stock pot. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 2hrs. Add salt to taste. Serve.
   

Beetroot Soup

Back to my daily cooking after eating 10 days of tingkat food! The soup provided by the tingkat service really sucks.....still prefer my own homecooked soup!! No matter how busy I am nowadays, soup is still the fastest & simplest to prepare. In the morning I will prepare the ingredients and throw them into the pot and let it simmer. Before noon a pot of soup will be ready for lunch and also dinner!

Ingredient

• 500gm beetroot, peeled & cut into chunks
• 1 sweet corn, cut into chunks
• 150gm carrots, cut into chunks
• 250gm pork ribs
• 8 large seedless red dates
  
• 2 slices ginger
• 2000ml water
• salt to taste
  

Method

1. Blanch pork ribs in hot water, drain away water and place all ingredient except salt into a stock pot.
2. Bring to boil, lower heat and simmer for 2hrs. Add salt to taste. Serve.

Cheese Cupcakes

Ingredient

• 120gm unsalted butter
• 100gm cream cheese
• 185gm sugar
• 5 eggs
• 250gm self-raising flour
• 1 tbsp Parmesan cheese

Method

1. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Using a electric whisk, beat on high speed until smooth & pale for 3 mins.
2. Spoon batter into cupcake cases and sprinkle extra Parmesan cheese over if desired. Bake in preheated oven at 180 deg cel for 25mins till golden brown.

Horlick Doggie Cookie

A popular recipe among fellow bakers! is so cute :) wonder how my boy will react after seeing this cookies...

Ingredients

• 180g salted butter
• 80g Horlicks
• 100g chocolate chips
• 200g top flour
• 25g cornflour
• 25g milk powder
• Koko Krunch, chocolate chips/rice for decoration
  

Method

1. Sift the flour, cornflour and milk powder.
2. Cream the butter and Horlicks for 3 minutes at low speed. Do not overbeat.
3. Add the sifted flour and beat for about one minute to form a dough.
4. Divide dough into 10g each. Embed 3 chocolate chips into each piece of dough and roll into a ball.
5. Insert 2 pieces of Koko Krunch to form the ears, chocolate rice as eyes and 1 chocolate chip as the nose.
6. Bake at 160 deg cel for about 20 minutes. Cool before storing.
   

Zucchini Cakes

By chance discover this blog Food-4-Tots which features great recipes suitable for toddlers! These zucchini cakes indeed simple to make & delicious also!

Ingredients

• 2 zucchini
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese
• 2-3 eggs
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper
  

Methods

1. Wash and cut the ends off of the zucchini. Shred it using the large holes of a cheese grater. Squeeze the shredded zucchini inside of a clean towel until you’ve removed as much liquid as possible.
2. Place shredded zucchini into a medium sized bowl. Add minced garlic, breadcrumbs, cheese (shredded), egg (add 2 eggs first, if mixture too dry then add the 3rd egg) and salt and pepper to taste. Stir with a fork until well mixed.
3. Heat some oil in a skillet. When the oil is hot enough drop a glob of zucchini batter into the skillet and flatten it a bit. After about 2 minutes, turn the cakes over (they should be a nice golden-brown) and cook on the other side until done (about 2-3 minutes)

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

My boy nowadays very enthusiastic to help me with my bakings. Since my gal off to dreamland at 8.30pm, take this chance to spend some precious time with him by baking some simple cookies together! The minute he saw me preparing the ingredients he immediately bring his small stool into the kitchen and said " I WANT TO HELP OK" :) Since my hubby happen to be around at home, quickly ask him to take some pictures of my boy helping out with the bakes....

Ingredient

• 150gm plain flour
• 150gm oatmeal
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 120gm brown sugar
• 60gm raisins
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 125ml corn oil
• 4 tbsp milk

Method

1. Place flour, oatmeal, ground ginger, baking powder/soda, brown sugar and raisins in a mixing bowl. Stir to mix the ingredient evenly.
2. Combine egg, corn oil and milk together. Pour into the dry ingredients. Use a wooden spoon and stir till a soft dough form.
3. Drop tsp of dough onto baking sheet and bake in preheated oven at 200 deg cel for 12mins till golden brown.
4. Cool completely on wire rack before storing.