Roasted Duck Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing

I have been trying to eat healthy lately with lots of salad and I am enjoying it, seriously *lol*. This time round, I made something simple with roasted duck which I bought from the supermarket. My family is not into duck meat and since it is not cheap either, I decided to try roast duck breast which I found at carrefour suntec city. Extremely easy in which I just need to reheat it and sliced it into whatever form I like. The meat is very tender but a little bit salty to me, otherwise it is just nice.

As for the dressing, I decided on honey mustard. The recipe which I got from allrecipes.com is also pretty easy to make and it is delicious. I just changed the regular mayo with garlic mayo which I have in the fridge. So here is the recipe:

Ingredients

1 bag salad mix (your choice)

3T pumpkin/sunflower seed

a couple of cherry tomatoes, halved

roasted duck, sliced/cube

Honey Mustard Dressing

Ingredients

4T garlic mayonnaise or regular mayonnaise

1T dijon mustard

1T honey

1/2T lemon juice

salt & pepper to taste if you like

Method

1. Mix up all the dressing ingredients till well blended

2. Pour the dressing to the salad and toss it

3. Serve with garlic bread

Digital Measuring Spoon revisited

I know that some readers were asking me where I purchased my digital spoon. I got mine from Amazon but now you can get it here locally in Singapore. You can purchase it at Kitchencapers priced at $35. However I have been told that this item runs out fast, so you may want to call up and book a set for yourself.

Hope this helps :)

Cocoa+Milo Cake and Nutella rolls

This year's eid has been a rather lazy one for me. I didn't bake much but just made what I think my kids and visitors would like :-) I made these in the first week of Eid for my guests. If you notice, most of my bakes are vanilla or chocolate flavoured. My kids are not into colorful bakes, maybe they got intimated by the colours *lol* Anyways, I will update the recipe later :)

Oven-baked Naans

These are really great naans, chewy and soft even when they are not hot. I made this after reading so many great reviews about it. The suggested method is to cook it over the stove but instead, I used the baking/pizza stone and have it baked in the oven. If you don't have you can use a baking tray. Please check that your oven has a top grille otherwise you might risk overbaking it and will end up with hard naans.

I have also included the link to the youtube videos for your reference. If you notice, this recipe doesn't use yogurt so it is not as tangy as the ones with yogurt.

Naan

Source: Cooking for All Seasons

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tsp instant yeast
1 1/2 cup warm milk
1 tsp sugar

Butter for brushing on hot naans (optional)

Method:

1. Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the milk, let rest approximately 10 minutes till it turns frothy
2. In a large bowl, mix well the flour with the yeast/milk mixture then mix in the salt

3. Knead until soft and elastic

4. Cover with a damp towel and leave in a dark place to rise until doubled, about two hours
5. Remove the dough from the bowl, punch it out gently then divide into ten even balls
6. Roll out into triangles, dusting lightly with flour as needed

7. Preheat oven to the highest temperature your oven can take, mine is about 220C with the pizza stone in the oven for 30mins

8. Place the tray and the pizza stone close to the top grill of your oven without burning the naan during baking

9. Once it is ready, place the naans on the pizza stone and let it puff, take it out once the top puffs up and has brown spots
10. Brush it with butter once it is out of the oven and keep them warm

Here are the links for your reference:

Over the stove method: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBFOpcIkPZQ&feature=related

Oven with baking stone method which I used: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkiN7fQbHiA&feature=player_embedded

Vanilla Cupcakes for Children's Day party

My youngest daughter's school had a Children's Day celebration last Friday and the school was asking for some food contribution for the party. Since my kids love cake, I decided to make vanilla+chocolate chip cupcakes with buttercream frosting. A simple one without any swirls or anything fancy. Actually it was my decision to forgo the swirls as it will be too messy for the kids :) To make it cute, I topped it with strawberry chocolate shavings and tiny chocolate balls that comes in white, milk and dark chocolate :)

The vanilla cupcakes, I used my favourite recipe by Magnolia Bakery. I got it off the internet many years back and I can't remember the site *lol* Anyways, here it is, I added chocolate chips to it.

Recipe:

Magnolia Bakery Vanilla Cupcakes

Recipe from More From Magnolia by Allysa Torey

1 C unsalted butter, softened (1 cup is about 227g)

2 cups granulated sugar (I used slightly less than 2 cups)

4 large eggs

1 1/2 C self rising flour

1 1/4 C all-purpose flour

1 C milk

1 tsp vanilla extract/essence

1 C chocolate chips

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 170C degrees

2. Sift flours into a bowl and set aside

3. Cream the butter until smooth on medium speed, ad the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy

4. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition

5. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla

6. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat

7. Scrap down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended

8. Add chocolate chips and slowly mix it into the batter

9. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about three-quarters full

10.Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean

11.Cool cupcakes before frosting

Cornflakes Macaroons

This is one of the popular cookies during Eid and it is really easy to make. I believe this is similar to the coconut macaroons but this is baked till dry and crispy. I love making this because it uses very little ingredients and you can be creative with what you want to add to it. For this, I have added crushed cornflakes and chocolate chips. I also tried with nutella and ground hazelnut, very addictive and delicious.

To make this, you need to be a little patient as it requires to be baked at low temperature for about 1hr or slightly less depending on your oven.

Here is the recipe that I used. I baked them at 140C for about 1hr. Some baked at even lower temperature of about 100C and baked at almost 2hr. Some slightly above 140C for about 45min. All these depends on your oven, I prefer to bake it at 140C as anything more I get cracks. But seriously it's up to you :) Remember that you have to bake it till it's dry.

Ingredients:

1/2 C egg white (about 3 egg whites)
155g castor sugar (original was 225g but it is extremely sweet for me, hence I reduced the amount)

150g cornflakes, crushed
200g chocolate chips, more if you like
2 tsp vanilla essence (optional)
mini cupcake casings

Method:
1. Beat the egg white till frothy and slowly add sugar and beat till stiff peaks (glossy but not dry)
2. Stop the mixer and add the cornflakes and chocolate chips and fold gently till well blended
3. Arrange cupcake casings on tray and using a small cookie scoop, scoop into the casings
4. Bake at 140C in a preheated oven on the lowest rack for 1hr or till the meringue is hard both the top and bottom (don't be afraid to squeeze the bottom a little bit)
5. Remember to switch position of tray in between
6. Leave it to cool completely before storing in airtight containers


Happy trying !!

Lapis Legit Pisang (Banana Layer Cake)

I had a bunch of over-riped bananas but tired of eating banana cake so I decided to make this instead. Well, it was a rather impromptu decision, that is why the layers are thick, I was baking this at about 8pm and wanted to complete it before midnight :-P Since this is not exactly an easy thing to bake, I have put up the recipe here at my other blog.

Enjoy !!

Easy Sweet & Sour Chicken

This is a very hassle free dish except for the frying of the chicken pieces. For the sauce, I used 3 off-the-shelf ones which I normally keep stock at home. My kids love sweet and sour sauces so I usually make various versions with different ingredients. As for the chicken pieces, I only use flour, salt and pepper.

The sweetened plum sauce which I purchased from Sheng Siong if you are living in Singapore. Don't use too much of these because this is pretty sweet.

Maggi ketchup and chilli sauce. If you want spicier flavour, you can use other brands like sinsin extra spicy chilli sauce.

Here is the recipe, adjust the sauce according to your taste. You don't have to follow the amount in my recipe.

Ingredients:

Chicken
200-250g chicken fillet, cut into bite size
1/4 - 3/4 C plain flour
salt & pepper (amount is up to you)
oil for frying

Sauce
2T sweetened plum sauce
4T ketchup
4T chilli sauce, add more if you want it spicy or use extra spicy chilli sauce
1T-2T hot water

Garnishing
lettuce
spring onion

Method:

Chicken
1. Heat oil in pan
2. Combine flour, salt and pepper in a ziplock bag and shake to mix them
3. Add the chicken pieces and lock the ziplock bag, leaving some air and shake to coat the chicken pieces with the flour mix
4. Fry the chicken pieces till they turn golden brown

Sauce
1. Mix all the ingredients and heat it up or microwave for about 1-2 minutes

Put lettuce on a plate, place the chicken pieces on the lettuce, pour the sauce over and garnish with spring onions.

Father's day cake inspiration ...

I have yet to decide what kind of cake I will be making for Father's day. Especially now with the World Cup going on .. it's between soccer and tie maybe .. hmm Anyways, if anyone of you need some inspiration for a tie themed cake, do check this out - http://www.tiepedia.com/tie-blog/49-crafts/155-tie-cake

Lemongrass+Lime Tea

I made this a couple of weeks back when the weather was scorching hot. It's really easy to make and very refreshing especially if you have it chilled. I added lime to give it more zest. You also add little bit of Sprite or 7-UP for the slightly sweet fizziness to it.

What you need:

3 stalks lemongrass, take only the white portion and bash it a little
1 litre water
enough rock sugar - adjust according to your preference
lime juice and lime slices for garnish (optional)
plenty of ice

What you do:

1. Boil the water with the lemongrass over medium heat for about 30-45mins
2. Add rock sugar and stir till it dissolves
3. Strain it and let it cool before you chill it, add abit more cool boiled water if you think that the flavour is too overpowering
4. Serve with plenty of ice and a squeeze of lime, garnish with lime slices if you like

Beef Stew Vietnamese Style with Kway Teow (flat rice noodle)

I love vietnamese food as I find them very light and appetising. I was lucky to grab hold of a vietnamese cookbook at the library - The Vietnamese Cookbook by Diana My Tran and like the recipes. The look very simple for a FTWM like me. So I gave this one a try as it sounds delish looking at the ingredients used. I am very happy to have tried it as my family loves it. The taste is light but very satisfying. You can serve this with kway teow/noodles or bread.

Of course mine looks very very far from the authentic dish *LOL*

Here is the recipe. I added potatoes because my husband likes potatoes. You can add about 1 or 2 medium potatoes, cube

For the dipping sauce, I used store bought chicken rice chilli but you can use whatever chilli sauce that you like.

Ingredients
1 - 1.5 lb beef, cut into cubes
1 lemongrass, cut the green part off and bruised the white portion
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 carrots, cut into cubes
5C water
2-3T oil
salt to taste

Marinade
1/2t five spice powder
1/4t curry powder
1/4t chilli flakes/pepper flakes (more if you like it spicy but I omit this because my kids can't take spicy stuffs)
2T oyster sauce
2T tomato paste

Garnish
thai basil
lime wedges
hoisin sauce and chilli sauce for dipping

Method
1. Mix all the marinade ingredients and marinate the beef with it for 15mins
2. Heat pot with oil and sautee chopped onion and garlic till fragrant (don't burn the garlic)
3. Add the marinated beef and stir till it browned a little bit
4. Add water and lemongrass and let it simmer, skim off the froth and foam
5. Let it simmer for 30mins than add the carrots, salt to taste and continue simmering till the meat is tender usually about 1hr or more
6. Serve it hot with kway teow and the garnishes or just french loaves

I used my thermo pot and cooked over the stove for about 30mins then transfer the inner pot to the outer pot and let it cook for the next 6hours. The meat came out very tender.

Sliced Cheese Cheesecake

This cheese cake recipe caught my attention because it doesn't use cream cheese. Instead it uses sliced cheese which I always keep stock in the refrigerator. It is not difficult to make really and it yields a very soft cake which my kids love. It is best served chilled.

I got the recipe from myresipi.net which is originally in malay. I have translated it and make minor changes to the ingredients used.

Ingredients
5 sliced cheese
200ml fresh milk
70g butter
70g cake flour (high ratio flour)
65g sugar (original is 70g)
4 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla essence

Method
1. Tear cheese slices into small pieces and add to the milk in a small pot
2. Heat milk and cheese on low heat till cheese melts, stir mixture to prevent lumps
3. Add butter, let it melt and stir till well blended
4. Beat egg white till frothy and slowly add sugar and beat till glossy and stiff, leave aside
5. In another clean bowl, beat the yolks till creamy and add it to the milk mixture with the vanilla essence
6. Slowly stir in flour and gently mix till smooth
7. Then add 1/3 of the meringue and gently fold into the milk+egg+flour mixture, once blended, add the the remaining 2/3 and gently fold till you don't see any streaks
8. Pour batter into an 8 inch pan
9. Bake in a preheat oven, baine marie at 170C for 20mins and lower the temperature to 140C and bake it for further 40mins
10.Chill it first before you cut and serve

Beef + Sugar Beans in Sweet & Sour Sauce

I always associate sweet and sour sauce to be red. However this one is on a brown side due to the beef but I am still ok with it *LOL* My sister made something similar during our holiday trip to Phuket and I just have to make it at home to have it with hot steamed rice. I am red meat person and this is just nice for us. It is very easy to make, you can use your own sauce or just use the ready made ones.

Ingredients:

250-300g sliced beef, coat with a bit of cornflour (best to use for stir frying)
1 large clove garlic chopped
1 packet sweet sour sauce (you can use whatever brand that you like)
1 pack of sugar beans (sorry I can't remember the weight)
enough water to dilute the sauce
2Tbsp oil
salt & pepper to taste (optional)

Method:

1. Heat oil in wok and brown the beef slices, once it turned brown, push them aside and add the chopped garlic and stir for a minute
2. Add a bit of water followed by the sauce stir the meat in and add bit more water if you want more gravy
3. Let it simmer for a few minutes and then add the sugar beans and let it simmer for another few minutes till it is soft enough for you and the meat is tender
4. Serve it hot with steamed rice

Enjoy !

Blackforest cake

A request for CNY from my sister. It's an 8 inch cake, simply decorated. You can get the recipe HERE :-)

Panini/Sandwich

We have sandwich dinner at least once a week. Usually it will be on nights where my eldest daughter has her tuition at home. My kids are bread eater and they always looking forward for sandwich dinners. Their favourite is Tuna although we will have cold meat slices which is not very often though. While the girls are happy with their soft bread, the hubster likes it grilled like this.

A simple and cheap panini presser is not easy to find here in Singapore. However, a friend recommended me this particular brand which is affordable and large enough to fit at least 2 sandwiches. This is the presser/grill that I got last year and I simply love it. Although I bought a philips cucina with changable plates earlier for my paninis, that is now used strictly for my waffles *LOL*

Oh I forgot to mention, the brand is Princess.

Pineapple Tarts revisited

I could not resist not making these during the CNY break.

Alot of readers were asking me about replacing the milk powder, so I tested it and replaced all the milk powder with plain flour. The result is still the same BUT without the milky flavour. It is still delicious and still melt-in-your-mouth if you follow the instructions in the post here. You can also reduce the milk powder if you don't want it to be too creamy but don't forget to replace it with flour!

Firm Tofu with Sweet Soya Chincalok

My other half and myself need something a little spice to go with our rice. Since I made fish soup for the girls, I made this extremely simple side dish for the adults at home :-) We don't eat chincalok very often but this has been our favourite recently as it goes very well with steamed rice. It's usually as a dip with cucumber, winged bean (or known as kacang botol) and other local salad. For this, I added a few dashes of kicap manis and top it on the fried firm tofu. This only took me about 15 mins depending on how many tofu you need to fry *LOL* It is best that you eat it hot.

Ingredients
Firm tofu, cut into quarters and fry them
2-3T Chinchalok chilli sauce (I used Taho brand which you can purchase from NTUC)
A few dashes of kicap manis (Habhal's brand)

Method
1. Arrange the fried tofu on a plate
2. Scoop 2-3T of chinchalok chilli sauce on the tofu
3. Top with with a few dashes of kicap manis
4. Serve it hot

Banana Sponge Cake

I got a bunch of bananas in the fridge that has ripen to a point where the skin has turned black *LOL* Desperately looking for something to make use of it and finally settled for this sponge cake. The banana sponge is adapted from Richard Goh's recipe and I love it alot because it is really spongey without having to use any emulsifier. To my surprise, it also yields a pretty big cake with only 3 eggs.

You can see how spongey the cake is. This is from the big cake which is 8x3inch round cake pan.

This is the cakelet version of it. The batter could not fit into the 8x3inch round pan.



Banana Sponge Cake (9" cake)
Ingredients
3 eggs (55g-60g each preferably room temperature)
120g sugar (original 150g)
290g banana, mashed (original 200g, I used about 4 delmonte size bananas)
150g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
100g oil

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 170 degree C
2. Grease and line a 9" round tin (do not grease the sides. Just the bottom will do)
3. Whisk eggs, sugar & banana at max speed till stiff or double in volume (if your eggs are a bit cold, it will take a longer time to get it stiff. But just keep mixing it)
4. Add in sifted flour and gently fold it well by hand or spatula
5. Take about 1/3 of the batter and add into the oil and mix till the oil blends into the batter
6. Pour oil mixture into the 2/3 of the batter and gently mix well till well incorporated
7. Bake for 40 - 45mins or till skewers comes out clean

Rice Bread (Not gluten free)

I had some leftover rice in the fridge but it was not enough to make fried rice. While going through one of my bread machine book, I came across a recipe which was just perfect. Rice bread using some left over rice. I won't say this is one of the best bread but the family finished it up in one sitting right out of the oven !

Fortunately I didn't see grains of rice in the bread. But I will sure make this again if I have very little rice left for any other dishes.