Quinoa Patties with Broccoli & Mushroom

Instead of usual rice/porridge/noodle for lunch, I've made some healthy tasty quinoa patties for my family. The patties are packed with healthy ingredients like broccoli, mushroom and black fungus...no meat added! Glad that the kids accepted it well and managed to polish up their servings without any complaints :P

Recipe ref : Kitchen Snippets
Ingredient

• 3 cups cooked quinoa (I've used mixture of red & white quinoa cooked in vegetable broth)
• 2 eggs
• 4 spring onions, chopped
• 60gm blanched broccoli, chopped
• 4 fresh shiitake mushroom, diced
• 40gm softened black fungus, chopped
• 1 cup fresh wholemeal breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
• salt & pepper to taste

Method

1. Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix well. Chill the mixture for 15 mins in fridge.
2. Heat a non-stick pan with 2 tbsp oil. Form the mixture into small patties and place into the pan. Pan fry the patties until both sides are golden brown.
3. Remove patties and drain well on kitchen paper. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Vegan Patties Burger

Who say eating healthy and meat-free diet is boring and bland? This moreish vegan patty is awfully delicious and filling at the same time. Herbs and spices, Tahini paste, low sodium soy sauce and sweet medjool dates added helps to flavour up this vegan patties, no salt or sugar is needed. To make it healthier the patties are baked instead of frying. With extra effort, I've baked some sweet potato buns to sandwich this yummy vegan patties. Sounds great right?

Ingredients for making the Vegan Patties : mixed grains, rolled oats, cannellini beans, medjool dates, portobello mushroom

After shaping and baking

Vegan Patties

Ingredient

• 6 big portobello mushroom, roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
• 400gm tin of cannellini beans, drained well
• 4 medjool dates, pitted
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• small bunch of fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp tahini
• 2 tbsp low sodium light soy sauce
• 200gm brown rice, cooked and cooled
• 50gm rolled oats
• zest of 1 large lemon

Toppings :

• homemade sweet potatoes bun, halved & toasted
• avocado, mashed
• cheese slices
• tomato slices
• red cabbage, sliced
• lettuce, shredded
• chilli sauce

Method

1. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan. Add mushroom and thyme. Fry until the mushroom have dried out and lightly browned. Season with some salt and pepper. Remove from pan and set aside to cool.
2. Place cannellini, dates, garlic, parsley, tahini and soy sauce in a food processor. Process mixture till smooth. Transfer the mixture into a mixing bowl.
3. Add rice, oats, zests and cooled mushrooms into beans mixture. Mix well and chill in fridge for 30mins to firm up.
4. Divide mixture into 8 equal portions and shape into patties. Place them on a lined baking tray. 
5. Bake in preheated oven at 230deg cel for 15 mins until nicely brown.
6. To serve : Spread toasted sweet potatoes buns with mashed avocado, layer with tomato slice, red cabbage, lettuce, vegan patties and cheese slices.

Recipe ref : meatfreemondays.com

After layering with mashed avocado, fresh lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, red cabbage, it became a whoopie 5" tall Vegan Burger! ^0^

Homemade Sweet Potato Buns

Recipe ref: 'Original Flavour' by Carol

Sweet Potato Burger

Ingredient

• 150gm orange sweet potato, wgt after steaming
• 250gm bread flour
• 50gm wholemeal flour
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 20gm sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 150ml unsweetened soy milk (need not use up all)
• white sesame seeds

Method

1. Mash steamed sweet potato while its still hot. Cool down before using.
2. Combine all ingredients into a mixing bowl. (Reserve 50ml milk)
3. Knead till dough is smooth and elastic. Add more milk if dough is too dry.
4. Cover the dough with cling wrap and place in a warm place. Proof till double in bulk for about 1 hour.
5. Lightly punch down dough to release gas. Knead lightly on a floured surface.
6. Divide dough into 8 equal portions. Shape into round shape. Place onto lined baking sheet.
7. Cover and let it to proof for another 50-60 mins.
8. Lightly brush surface with water. Sprinkle white sesame seeds over. 
9. Bake in preheated oven at 180 deg cel for 20-25 mins.
10. Remove buns from oven and cool completely on wire rack.

Cook Your Books #24 by Kitchen Flavours

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Lovely golden chocolate chips cookies! Not exactly a healthy cookies but at least some pumpkin puree is added to enhance its nutrition value :D The texture is soft and chewy with lots of semi-sweet chocolate chips embedded inside. 

Recipe ref : twopeasandtheirpod.com
Ingredient

• 375gm plain flour
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 227gm unsalted butter
• 150gm brown sugar
• 100gm fine sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Method

1. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices together.
2. Using a electric whisk, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
3. Add in egg, vanilla and pumpkin and beat until well combined, about 3 mins.
4. Add in dry ingredients, in 3 batches, mix till just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
5. Transfer cookie dough into a container, cover and chill for 1 hour.
6. Preheat oven to 180 deg cel. Drop, rounded tbsp of cookie dough onto lined baking sheet. Bake for 15-20 mins or until cookies are lightly brown around the edges. Cool the cookies on baking sheet for a while before transferring onto a wire rack to cool completely.

I'm submitting this post to the Best Recipes for Everyone

 July 2015 Event : I have a date with "Pumpkin"

organized by Fion of XuanHom's Mom and co-hosted by  Rachel

Cake Waffles + Oreo Ice-cream

These waffles are called cake waffles as the preparation of the batter is similar to making a sponge cake. i.e. Beating the eggs and sugar till double in volume, fold in flour and melted butter. The batter is then ladled into heated a waffle maker. The cake waffle (original flavour)  is really fragrant with a rich egg flavour, crisp crust and moist crumbs! I really loved the texture and taste of this cake waffles that I re-create the recipe by adding matcha powder and cocoa powder. Tasted so heavenly with a scoop of homemade oreo ice-cream...thumbs up!

Unlike the convention way of waffle making, this cake waffle batter is not allowed keep in fridge overnight or in room temperature for too long. You need use it immediately if not the waffles will turn out flat.

Recipe ref : Carol's blog

Ingredient (2 servings)

• 1 large egg
• 35gm fine sugar
• 1/2 tbsp warm milk
• 50gm cake flour
• 35gm warm melted butter

Method

1. Using a electric whisk, beat egg and sugar until double in volume, about 8 mins.
2. Beat in milk. Sift cake flour into egg mixture and fold till well combined.
3. Stir in melted butter. Divide batter into 4 portions.
4. Preheat lightly greased waffle maker for 2-3 mins. Ladle in each portion of batter into waffle maker and cook for 3-5 mins until golden brown. (duration of cooking will depend on the model of your waffle maker)
5. Serve immediately with fresh fruits, ice-cream or whipped cream.

Green Tea Cake Waffles: 50gm cake flour + 5gm green tea powder

Chocolate Cake Waffles : reduce cake flour to 45gm and add 5gm cocoa powder.

No-Churn Oreo Ice-Cream

Ingredient

• 600ml double cream
• 500ml milk
• 1 can condensed milk
• 1 cup Oreo cookie crumbs (cream removed)

Method

1. Using a electric whisk, beat cream till thick and double in volume.
2. Whisk in milk until well blended.
3. Fold in cookie crumbs briefly.
4. Pour mixture into a container, cover and freeze overnight till firm up.

Smooth, creamy homemade Oreo ice-cream without the need of an ice-cream machine. No need to stir the mixture every hour or so to break up the icy crystal! I've actually added more crushed cookie into the mixture, each mouthful you can taste the bits of the cookies! Yum!

This post is linked to the event Little Thumbs Up (July 2015 Event: Tea) 

organised by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY 

and hosted by Cheryl of Baking Taitai

Herbal Tea Leaves Egg 茶叶蛋

This herbal tea leaves egg is a simple dish which I prepare quite often at home as the big kid and small kids simply love eggs! One carton of 12 eggs usually disappear very fast that my hubby ask me to buy a big tray of 30 eggs instead >.<

Ingredients for the spice broth : Chinese tea leaves, rock sugar, star anise, liquorice root

Boil the broth for a while before adding in tea leaves and hardboiled egg and continue to simmer for another 1 hour or more.

Love the marbling on the eggs!

Ingredient

• 12 large eggs
• 1 tbsp salt
• 30gm Chinese tea leaves

Spice

• 5 pcs star anise
• 5gm liquorice root
• 120ml light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 50gm crushed rock sugar
• 1200ml water

Method

1. Wash and clean eggs thoroughly. Place the eggs into a pot together with salt. Add water enough to submerge all the eggs. 
2. Bring to boil and lower heat, simmer for 5 mins and remove from heat. Transfer eggs into a bowl of icy cold water to stop the cooking process.
3. When the eggs have cooled completely, lightly crack the shells with the back of a metal spoon.
4. Combine spices and water in a pot and bring to boil for 5 mins. 
5. Add in eggs and tea leaves, bring to boil again. Cover and simmer on low heat for 1 hour.
6. Turn off heat and continue to steep the eggs for at least 30mins, with lid on. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Note : For unfinished portion, remove the eggs from the broth and keep in a air-tight container. Strain the broth, discard the tea leaves. Keep the broth in another separate container. Keep both containers in fridge. To serve, take some eggs and place in a heatproof bowl. Ladle some broth over. Cover the bowl and microwave for 3-5 mins until heated through. Best consume within 3 days.

This post is linked to the event Little Thumbs Up (July 2015 Event: Tea) 

organised by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY 

and hosted by Cheryl of Baking Taitai

Kong Bah Pau (扣肉包）

"Ewwww....so fatty!" that's what my son exclaimed. hahaha But I assured him that it is not oily at all! Then my 5 year old girl spouted out : "give me give me...I want!" hahaha in the end she eaten the fatty (skin) portions and said : "nice! just like jelly" ^0^ Actually I'm not a fan of pork belly also, but this braised pork belly is absolutely delicious that I could not resist it too! 

Kong Bah Pau...the classic way to serve the braised pork belly between a fluffy steamed leaf bun! Or simply dip the plain buns into the sweet and thick gravy, equally yummy too.

I chomped down 3 of these lovely buns! 

Spice ingredients 

fresh pork belly

dunked into icy cold water after boiling for 10 mins

slice into 1cm x 7cm slices

simmer the pork belly for 1/2 hour over stove and further steaming for 2 hours yields a tender and succulent texture.

Ingredients

• 1.2kg pork belly
• 4 cloves garlic
• 3 star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 slices ginger
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 3 stalk spring onion
• 1½ tbsp oil
• 80gm raw slab sugar, 冰片糖
• 6 tbsp light soya sauce
• 4 tbsp red dates thick soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 500ml broth
• 2 tbsp Chinese wine, 花雕酒

Method

1. Cook the pork in boiling water for 10 mins, remove and soak it in icy cold water for 5 mins. Slice each pork belly slab into approx. 1cm x 7cm pieces.
2. Heat oil in a casserole, pan fry the pork slices on both sides till golden brown. Add in broth, seasoning and spices. Bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer for 1/2 hour.
3. Transfer the casserole (cover with a lid or foil) into a preheated steamer and steam over low heat for 2 hours until pork belly is tender soft.
4. Drizzle in the wine and steam for another 15 mins. Serve warm with rice or steamed leaf buns.

* I've cooled down the braised pork belly and chill it overnight. The next day, I scraped away the layer of fats that had solidified. Re-steamed the dish thoroughly before serving.

Pumpkin Mee Hoon Kueh

Cute & healthy bowl of soupy Mee Hoon Kueh made with pumpkin puree! 

 I'm trying very hard not to distort the cut-outs as the dough is really soft and stretchy!

You can add any garnishes as desired. I've added an egg, pork fillet, baby choy sum, fishcake, fried anchovies and fried shallots in a simple anchovy broth.

Recipe ref : Cass's Blog

Ingredient

• 200gm pumpkin puree
• 400gm plain flour
• 3 tbsp corn oil
• 1/2 tbsp salt
• 2-3 tbsp water

Method

1. Combine flour, oil, salt with pumpkin puree while is still hot. Add in tbsp of water and gather the mixture together to form a dough. 
2. Knead lightly for 3 mins. Mixture will be slightly sticky but manageable. Cover and damp kitchen towel and rest for 30 mins.
3. Knead again till dough is smooth and soft. Cover and rest for another 30mins. Divide the dough into 2 portions, cling wrap and store in air-tight container in fridge if not using it on the same day. 

Recipe ref : Nasi Lemak Lover

Ikan Bilis (Anchovy) Soup Base

Ingredient

• 100gm dried anchovies, rinsed thoroughly
• 2L water

Method

1. Place anchovies in water and bring to boil.
2. Lower heat and simmer for 45mins.

Garnishing

• 100gm pork fillet (marinate with 1 tsp sesame oil,  1/2 tsp wine, 1 tsp light soy sauce, pepper, cornflour)
• baby kailan 
• eggs
• fishcake
• dried mushroom granules to taste
• sesame oil
• white pepper
• fried ikan bilis
• fried shallots

To cook one bowl per person :

1. Ladle some soup base into a saucepan. Bring to boil.
2. Add in some pork fillet and fish cake. 
3. Tear the dough ball into small and thin pieces and drop it into the boiling soup. (alternatively : roll out each dough into thin sheet, cut out using cookie cutter)
4. Cook for 1 min. Add baby kailan and cook briefly. Crack in an egg. Add in some sesame oil & pepper to taste. Remove from heat.
5. Garnish with fried ikan bilis and fried shallots and serve immediately.

I'm submitting this post to the Best Recipes for Everyone

 July 2015 Event : I have a date with "Pumpkin"

organized by Fion of XuanHom's Mom and co-hosted by  Rachel

Watercress & Soy Milk Soup + Squash Wontons

This is a simple and healthy meat-free meal which consist of a vegetable soup and pumpkin fried wontons together with a bowl of rice for my kids but no carbohydrates for my serving :D My kids loved the soup as it tasted very sweet though no meat and sugar are added into this soup. The pumpkin fried wontons though not as crispy as the usual meat version one but still well received by them. Blessed to have kids that don't really fuss much with their Mommy's cooking!

Recipe ref : vegetarian-society.org

Ingredient

• 150gm watercress
• 5 white button mushroom, sliced
• 300ml water
• 1 cube non MSG vegetable stock 
• 250ml unsweetened soy milk
• 8 slices ginger
• salt* & pepper to taste (omit salt if using stock cube)

Method

1. Rinse and soak watercress in water for at least 30mins.
2. Place mushroom, ginger, stock cube and water in a pot. Bring to boil for one minute.
3. Add in watercress and bring to boil again. Lower heat and simmer for 20mins.
4. Add in soy milk and bring to boil again. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from hat and serve immediately.

Recipe ref : Martha Stewart
Ingredient

• 500gm butternut squash
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 stalk spring onion, sliced
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• wonton wrappers

Method

1. Peel and remove seeds from butternut squash. Cut into chunks. Place squash, soy sauce, sugar and salt in a pot. Add enough water to submerge the squash. Bring to boil and cook till squash is tender, about 10 mins. Drain away water and place the cooked squash in a mixing bowl. Mash till smooth and stir in spring onion and ginger. 
2. Place tbsp of filling in the centre of each wonton wrapper, brush the edges with water and press to seal. Place the wrapped wonton on a baking sheet and freeze until firm, about 15 mins.
3. Heat some oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Add the squash wontons, in batches, and fry till both sides are golden brown. 
4. Drain well on kitchen paper and serve immediately.

I'm submitting this post to the Best Recipes for Everyone

 July 2015 Event : I have a date with "Pumpkin"

organized by Fion of XuanHom's Mom and co-hosted by  Rachel

Roti Boy Coffee Bun

Oooh I always love the alluring fragrant of this coffee bun! It tasted so awfully good when its still warm, crusty cookie topping with buttery filling. But my first attempt on this coffee bun was really a disaster hahaha....filling all oozing out and the topping really looks ugly *no eyes see* >.< So on the second attempt I ditched the butter filling and opted for a cheese filling instead :D This time round it turned out beautifully with a smooth dome, though not as buttery but is good enough for me.

Ingredient (8 buns)

• 250gm bread flour
• 50gm sugar
• 7gm instant yeast
• 30gm beaten egg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 125ml milk
• 25gm unsalted butter

Filling

• 4 slices cheese, stacked up and sliced into 8 portions

Topping

• 50gm butter, softened
• 40gm icing sugar
• 30gm beaten egg
• 1 tsp coffee granules (dissolved in 2 tsp hot water)
• 50gm plain flour

Method

1. Combine flour, sugar, yeast and salt, mix well. 
2. Add in egg and milk, knead till a dough form. Knead in butter until dough is smooth and elastic, about 8-10mins.
3. Cover and proof for 60mins until double in bulk.
4. Punch down dough to release air and knead lightly. Divide dough into 8 portions and shape into rounds, rest for 10mins, covered.
5. Roll out each dough and wrap with cheese fillings and seal the edge tightly. Place the filled dough on a baking sheet. Cover and proof for another 60mins until double in size.
6. Topping : Whisk butter and sugar until well combine. Add in egg and coffee mixture and beat well. Fold in flour till smooth batter formed. Spoon filling into a piping bag.
7. Pipe filling over each dough in spiral patterns.
8. Preheat oven to 180 deg cel. 20mins until golden brown. Cool on rack completely but best serve warm.