fluffy dreamy pancakes

I've always wanted to try my hands at making pancakes. So last Sunday when I asked the hubs what he wanted for brunch, he suggested pancakes! So here you go! Pancakes made from scratch and I have to say it is soooo easy that I'll never pick up a premix again! Here's the 3-steps recipe that you can try at home to jazz up your Sunday brunch at home. I made blueberry with orange zest pancakes. You can throw in any kind of fruits you have in your fridge to go with your pancakes.

Ingredients
375ml buttermilk
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
2 tbsp castor sugar
1 egg beaten
1 tbsp melted butter

Let's cook!
1. Sift flour into bowl, add sugar.
2. Pour some of the buttermilk in and whisk till smooth. Add in rest of buttermilk while continously whisking into a smooth batter. Add in egg and butter and whisk till blended well.
3. Add in blueberries and orange zest and mix well.
4. Heat pan with some butter pour enough batter and cook till bubble appear before flipping over.
5. Stack pancakes topped with a generous knob of butter and drizzle of maple syrup and tuck in!

We found this really cute little bottle of Japanese maple syrup which taste authentic enough just a tad runny. But the cutest thing is the lid! There is 2 openings, 1 for small drizzle and the other for more flow! Trust the Japanese to come up with such things!!

beef bouguignon

I've been wanting to make this for some time now, ever since I purchase the le cruset dutch oven pot. But it does take a loooooong time to cook and thus have been putting it off due to time. Anyhow, finally manage to find the time to cook this and the hubs and I swear it is soooo worth the amount of time slow stewing it! However, be warned that you will need to break the bank and part with some major capital M to purchase the pot in order to prepare this dish. I strongly believe it WILL make a huge difference in the flavours and taste. And no I'm not getting any commission from le cruset for this post (they should pay me tho yeah?). So per request from my friend S, whom have been warned that this is level 5.5/5 in my opinion. S, I think you just wait for the next time I make this and invite you over ok, pls do not go out and buy this pot just for this dish haha!

What you need (feeds 5-6, depending how much of a carnivorous you are)
- 150g bacon (optional)
- 1.4kg stewing beef cubes (rump or chuck)
- 1 sliced carrot
- 1 sliced celery
- 1 sliced onion
- 200g sliced mushroom
- 2 tsp plain flour
- 3 cups red wine, preferably a good Burgundy
- 2-3 cups beef stock
- 1 tsp tomato paste
- 2 cloves mashed garlic
- few thyme springs
- 2 rosemary spring
- olive oil

Let's cook  
(this is best done over 2 days, in my opinion, to allow the beef to soak up all the flavours)
1. Fry bacon with olive oil in dutch oven pot. While that's happening, coat beef cubes with flour. This helps dry them and aids browning.
2. Once bacon has produced good amount of fat, remove and sear beef cubes in batches, taking care not to overcrowd. Also ensure there is enough oil, if not meat will not form a nice crust and flour will stick to the base of the pot.
3. Remove meat and throw in the garlic, veges to brown. Then throw in the mushrooms and cook till they turned golden.
4. Remove veges to a separate bowl, return meat to the pot along with wine, stock and tomato paste. Ensure there's enough liquid to just about cover the meat.
5. Turn down flame to the smallest, cover and let it simmer for about an hour. If your liquid dries up, feel free to add more wine or stock or water.
6. After an hour, return the veges to the pot, cover and continue to stew for about 1-1 1/2 hours on smallest flame.
7. This is where I made my own variation to the recipe. After 1 1/2 hours, you will see that sauce is still very liquid/watery, don't panic. Switch off the flame and left it overnight in the pot on the stove top.
8. The next day, turn on the flame again at the smallest and continue to simmer for about 1 1/2-2 hours on the stove top. Do check in between to ensure that the liquid has not dried up. After simmering, you will notice that the sauce has thicken up quite a lot and the beef is fork-tender, then you are ready to serve!
9. If the sauce does not thicken, you can mix 1 tsp of butter with 1 tsp of flour to form a dough and whisk into the sauce at low heat till reach the desired thickness.
10. Serve with crusty bread or mash potatoes and the balance of your Burgundy, sit back and enjoy!

P/S: See there are 10 steps to this recipe, told you it's really not easy ahah! But if you are feeling adventurous you can try the original recipe from Julia Child herself at:
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/boeuf_bourguignon/
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/recipe?id=8222804

Eggs en cocotte

Eggs!! I love eggs in all forms except raw haha! There's nothing like Sunday brunch or bacon, toast and eggs! But cookings eggs is actually not as simple as cooking rice. It's all about timing!

Anyway, long story short, I tried this recipe for eggs en cocotte, which is French baked eggs and it's sooo good that I must share it.

What you need (feeds 2)
- 4 eggs
- some slices of ham
- any cheese (cheddar or blue cheese is good)
- 4 tsp cream
- butter
- pepper and dried Italian herbs

Let's cook
1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
2. Line 2 ramekins with butter.
3. Cut into ramekins diced ham, grated/lumps of cheese. Season with pepper and dried herbs.
4. Crack 2 eggs each into each ramekin very carefully without breaking yolks. Put 2 tsp of cream onto whites part.
5. Place ramekins in baking tray and fill up to halfway with water.
6. Bake for 10mins. Serve with fried bacon strips and buttered toast. Yums!

Croque monsieur

What's fast to cook and good to eat? Nope not maggi mee haha! Homemade Croque monsieur!! Ok not exactly the way the French do it but hey whatever taste good will do rite!

What you need (feed 1)
- 2 types of cheese (can be sliced or grated)
- 2 slices of bread (any kind you like but best with soft kind)
- some shaved ham, the more the merrier
- mustard
- butter (salted)
- pepper

Let's cook
1. Place 2 slices of bread on plate and spread mustard on 1 side for both.
2. Put first type of cheese on 1 slice of bread, then the ham and finally the other cheese.
3. Crack some pepper (optional). Then place other slice of bread on top to sandwich.
4. Heat up a pan or griller but don't add oil.
5. Spread generous amount of butter on the top bread. Then place butter side down on pan. Use spatular to press sandwich down on pan.
6. Spread butter on other side of bread. Then flip sandwich over carefully and press down again.
7. Fry till golden brown. Cut into halves and serve hot with chips!

Chicken soup for the soul

Another fast and easy, yet hearty recipe for weekday dinners. All it takes is chicken breast, carrots and corn to put a smile on your face :)

Creamy chicken & mushroom/corn soup

What you need (feeds 3)
- 2 chicken breasts
- 2 carrots, diced
- 1 packet brown mushroom, sliced
- 1 packet cream corn
- 1 tsp cream
- salt & pepper to taste

Let's cook!
1. Put first 3 ingredients in a deep pot, add water to cover the ingredients by double.
2. Cover and bring to boil. Then simmer at low fire about an hour.
3. When carrots are soft, remove chicken set aside.
4. Put carrots, mushroom and some of the broth into blender and lightly blend. Taking care not to over blend as you want some chunks of carrots and mushroom.
5. Pour back blended mix into pot. Add cream corn or cream but not both.
6. Shred chicken and add into soup. Serve hot with love.

Breaded baked fish with homemade tartar sauce

Here's a recipe for quick and easy weekday dinners, by request of a girlfriend who's venturing into the kitchen. Good luck Annie and have fun cooking :)

Breaded Baked Fish/Pork/Chicken

What you need (feeds 2)
- 4 strips if frozen or fresh fish fillets
- 1 egg White
- 1 tsp plain flour
- some panko flakes (jap breadcrumbs)
- black pepper n salt

Let's cook!
1. Preheat oven to highest temp. Mine is 220 degrees.
2. Line in separate plates - flour, egg White, panko (seasoned with salt and pepper).
3. Pat dry fish fillets. Coat in flour dusting off excess flour. Then dip into egg White and finally panko.
4. Placed on grill lined with pan below. Drizzle some oil and place in oven for about 20mins or till golden brown.
5. Serve with homemade tartar sauce.

Homemade tartar sauce
- 2 tsp Mayo
- 1 big clove garlic, crushed
- lots of dill chips (pickle), diced
Mix all together and serve!

Same recipe can be used with chicken strips or thin pork fillets. Can either oven bake, shallow fry or deep fry. Here's a photo I shallow-fried with pork (katsu), served on a piece of toast with a sunny-side up yummy!

crabcakes, fishcakes, not that kinda cakes

This is by request of my friend San who tried my crabcakes and wants the recipe. These are probably the easiest things to make and freeze for weekday dinners. You can also do mini versions to impress your guests at dinner parties!

What you need
1 large potato
250gm frozen crabmeat, soaked in hot water for while OR
1 can tuna or salmon or any fish
seasoning: pepper, salt, mixed dried herbs
optional: some chopped parsley
1 egg
oil
panko flakes (japanese breadcrumbs) or any kinda breadcrums

Let's cook!
1. Skin and cut potato into quarters. Place in bowl, cover with water then microwave for about 11mins till soft.
2. Drain water from potato and mash it up.
3. Add crabmeat/fish, plus seasoning and chopped parsley. Mix it all together.
4. Crack the egg in a separate bowl, beat it then add half the egg into the crab/fish mix and mix well together.
5. Heat enough oil to shallow fry (about halfway up the cakes is fine).
6. Pour the panko onto a plate, roll crab/fish mix into balls (big or small) then lightly flatten them.
7. Dip the balls into the remaining egg lightly then coat with panko. Fry till golden brown, then flip over and fry the over side.
8. Drain and serve with homemade garlic aioli :) or make giant cakes and serve with side salad as a main.



These are wonderfully light and yummy! Somewhat like croquettes!

what do u wake up to?

We are all aware that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Some days we wake up and feel like we can eat a cow but other days all you want is a slice of toast, muffin or bagel. Whatever it is, brekkie is my fav because it sets my mood for the rest of the day.



I made some banana muffins with toasted almonds once cos' we had quite a few over-ripe bananas sitting around and it was a waste to throw them away. So wahla turned them into yummy muffins for brekkie! And boy did the house smell soooo lovely that morning!



The all time fav choice of brekkie is the fry-up. The best remedy for a hang-over I'll say! The fry-up is the easiest to prepare. All you do is look into the fridge and throw whatever you can find into a frying pan, together with eggs of your choice. The hubs loves his eggs scrambled, while I prefer mine sunny-side up with the prefect runny yolk. Yums!!



So do share what do you wake up to? Any interesting breakfast recipes to share?

Here's the recipe for my banana muffins:

1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup milk
1 large egg
3 ripened mashed bananas
1/2 cup of almond flakes

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Line 12 muffin tray with paper. Sieve flour, baking powder, soda and salt together in a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the butter, sugar, milk, egg and banana. Then stir in wet mixture into dry. Divide into 12 prepared muffin cups and top with almond flakes. Bake for about 20mins till stick comes out clean and enjoy!

sawadee burp

I was getting a bit bored of cooking the same dishes night after night for dinner, so decided to explore other cuisines lately. One of our favourite cuisine is Thai. So naturally, I went head on looking up some easy to cook Thai food. This week, I tried Thai Grilled Chicken and Thai Lemongrass Mussels.



Both were "aroy" means delicious in Thai (something I picked up in my many travels to the land of smiles. But by special request and also just cause it is soooo bloody good, I'm going to share the recipe of the marinade for the Grilled Chicken. I downloaded the recipe from the internet but made some refinement on my own to make it more "Thai" :) It's so simple and tasty to perk up your weekday dinners. Do try it and let me know what your family think about it!

What you need (serves 2pax)

• 1/2 fresh chicken chopped into parts
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp dark sauce
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 3 tbsp sherry
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp cracked black pepper
• 2 tbsp minced garlic
• 2 tbsp minced lemongrass
• 1 tbsp minced ginger

What to do

1. Combine all the marinade ingredients in a bowl and stir well to dissolve the sugar.
2. Throw the chicken parts and marinade into a plastic bag or ziplock bag, mix it around.
3. Throw it into the fridge to marinate at least 24 hours. Best for 48 hours :)
4. Take out from marinade place on grill skin side down at 220 degrees for 15mins. Then turn over and grill another 10-15mins or till skin is brown and the lovely aroma fills the house :)

of birthdays and breakfasts

Two things that I love are birthdays and breakfasts. Birthdays simply cos we should celebrate the day we came into this world and are still alive and kicking! Breakfast cos it's the first meal of the day so we should make it the BEST meal.



So this long weekend was my mother-in-law's birthday. We hosted my in-laws together with my folks at our house. I whipped up a 3-course meal consisting of Creamy Asparagus Soup with Bacon and Cheese Scones, followed by Braised Lamb with Mash and wilted Baby Spinach. But the highlight of the night is dessert. I made a Forest Noir Swiss Roll served with brandy-soaked cherries! Was so happy that the roll was a success as this was the first time I did this by myself after my baking course. Shall let the photos speak for itself.



Now to breakfast. I've recently discovered a simple cheat's croque monsieur. It's really simple to make but oh so delicious! Here's the simple recipe so you can wake up to a satisfying brekkie too!



What you need

• 2 slices of thick soft bread
• 4 slices of ham
• handful of grated cheese (any kind you fancy)
• dijon mustard
• butter

Let's cook

1. Heat a skillet pan over high heat
2. Spread the dijon mustard on 1-side of both slices
3. Top on 1 slice cheese, ham then cheese again
4. Cover with the other slice
5. Spread butter on both sides of bread and put onto hot skillet
6. Fry till brown and serve hot

creamy asparagus soup

Here's the recipe for creamy asparagus soup with char-grilled scallop (or prawn), special request by ambien. What you need (serves 6)

• 40g butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 4 bunches asparagus, trimmed & chopped
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon rind
• 4 cups prawn/seafood stock
• 1/2 cup pouring cream
• 1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
• 6 sea scallops or prawns
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoon lemon juice
• sea salt & cracked black pepper
• shaved parmesan cheese to serve
• cracked black pepper to serve

Let's cook!

1. Heat saucepan over high heat, add butter, onion and garlic and cook for 4-5mins till golden and tender
2. Add asparagus, lemon rind and pepper and cook for 2-3mins
3. Ass stock and bring to the boil
4. Reduce the heat and simmer for 12-15mins till asparagus is tender
5. Either use a hand-held blender or pour into a blender and blend till smooth
6. Pour back into pot and add cream and parmesan. Set aside and keep warm
7. Place scallops/prawns, oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper into a bowl, toss to combine
8. Heat a char-grill pan over high heat and cook scallops/prawns for 3-4mins till cooked
9. Ladle soup into bowls and top with scallops/prawns and a piece of shaved parmesan. Enjoy!

surfin seafood tart

Was at kino the other day browsing some food mags and saw this easy-peasy seafood tart recipe. Wanted to try it but didn't want to get that mag as there was nothing else worth buying for. So I copied it down on my phone, went down to Cold Storage, bought the ingredients, went home and tried it out with slight modification of my own. Boy was it surprisingly good!! So thought I'll share the recipe. XLB you might want to try this for your hubby hehe!

Assembled tarts waiting to go into the oven

What you need (makes 6)

• 20g unsalted butter
• 1/2 an onion, thinly sliced
• 4 bacon rashes, diced
• 12 prawns, chopped
• 140g crabmeat (i used frozen crabmeat)
• 1/2 cup cream
• 3 egg yolks
• dashes of dried basil flakes
• sprinkles of chilli flakes
• salt & pepper
• store-bought short crust pastry

Let's cook!

1. Preheat oven at 180 degrees
2. Melt butter, fry onion till soften with sprinkles of chilli flakes.
3. Fry bacon, then prawns, finally add in onion mix and crab. Season with pepper
4. Whisk cream, yolks, dried basil, zest in a jug. Season with salt & pepper
5. Line tart case with short crust pastry and use a fork to make some holes in the pastry for air to escape when baking
6. Spoon the crab mixture into the pastry tart, then pour egg mixture on top
7. Sprinkle some chilli flakes on top, then bake for 20-25mins
8. Stand for 10mins before removing from tin and serving

strawberry shortcake for another b-day gal

Every year ambien and I will get a cake for each other on our bdays. This year, since I'm so into baking, I thought I'll try my hand and bake her a cake instead. So I bravely adventured into baking a strawberry cake (like the Japanese bakery style). After much research, I narrowed down to this recipe as it seemed easy enough to take on. However, I was quite a skeptic of the recipe as it did not require any butter nor baking powder. I wondered if it could rise. But anyhow, I gave it a shot and not only did it rise 2 times it's height, it was light, fluffy, yummy and full of flavour sponge cake! Slicing the cake into half wasn't easy but hey who can see if it's unevenly cut after it's dressed up with lovely strawberries! Here's the end result. Excuse the messy decor as I got bit tired and just wanted to get the strawberries on the cake, clean up and go to bed :) Here's the recipe by request of ambien and her mom. What you need for Vanilla Sponge Cake (for small cake)

• 4 egg yolks
• 3/4 cup sugar
• half of 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 egg whites

Let's bake!

1. Preheat oven at 180 degrees. Line tin with baking paper
2. Whisk yolks, 1/2 cup sugar, milk, vanilla esence till smooth
3. Then whisk in sifted flour and salt into mixture till combined
4. In a separate bowl, whisk whites with pinch of salt at medium speed till soft peaks
5. Add in remaining sugar a little at a time, whisking at medium speed and continue to whisk till stiff and glossy peaks (about 2mins)
6. Fold 1/3 of the whites into the batter to lighten, then fold in remaining whites gently
7. Bake for 25mins till cooked in centre. Cool in tin for about 10mins before inverting.

What you need for Vanilla Cream

• 3/4 cup whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon icing sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla essence

--> Whisk all 3 ingredients together till peak.
Let's assemble!

1. Cut cake into half
2. Spread cream on the half, arrange slices of strawberries on top of cream
3. Spread cream on bottom of the other half of cake, then place top half on top
4. Spread remaining cream on top of cake and arrange strawberries on top. Can arrange strawberries standing or any way you prefer, be creative!
5. Optional: spread cream on sides and arrange sliced almonds over. Dust icing sugar on top of strawberries before serving for dreamy effect and enjoy :)

pawn me a prawn toast

Tried this simple recipe from Marie Claire over the cny hols. I have to say was impressed at how pretty it look and yummy it taste. Food needs to be like this for me all the time hehe! Oh and again, simple to prepare as well. Here's my simplified version of the recipe. Ingredients

• 20 small prawns, shelled
• 1 teaspoon grated ginger
• 1/3 teaspoon chilli flakes
• soya sauce, pepper & dash of sesame oil for seasoning
• slices of bread, trim off the crumbs and cut into 1/4s
• 1 egg beaten
• mixture of black & white sesame seeds
• oil for frying

Let's cook

1. Cut prawns into pieces and place in food processor with next 3 ingredients and blend into paste
2. Spread paste onto bread squares
3. Dip into egg, bread side first then prawn paste side
4. Dip prawn side into sesame seeds to coat
5. Shallow fry in hot oil prawn side down till golden brown then turn over
6. Remove from oil, drain and enjoy with Japanese mayo dip :)

things to stew about

Sorry I have MIA from blogging for a week. Partly was recovering from bad stomach flu and another part is due to busy packing for my office move happening next week. With so much on my plate, I needed to find some time to cook. Well of course we still need to eat but there's always takeaway as most busy folks will opt for. But for me cooking is my way to de-stress, even it is a quick and simple dish. So I finally hit the kitchen yesterday to prepare dinner for tonite, after about a week away. Whipped up our all-time fav one-pot comfort meal - Spicy Sausage Stew or Soup as it is rather watered. This dish is great for all of us working wives. Cook it the day before, pop it into the fridge and re-heat when ready to devour! Ingredients (feeds 2 very hungry folks)

• 2 herb sausages
• 2 Italian sausages
• 2 medium potatoes, diced
• 2 medium carrots, diced
• half onion, diced
• 1 can of Hunt's stewed tomato
• half a glass of water
• dash of mixed Italian herbs
• 1 teaspoon dry chilli flakes (I get mine from BKK, the best and most spicy)
• salt & pepper

Method

1. Saute the onions in bit of olive oil in a medium stainless steel saucepan, add sausages and fry till semi cooked.
2. Pour in canned stewed tomato, stir awhile then add in potato and carrots and pour in water.
3. Season with Italian herbs and chilli flakes, cover and simmer on low fire for about half hour or till potato/carrots are soft...and you are done!
4. Transfer to a container, leave to cool then refrigerate. Re-heat when ready to enjoy!

raving about my ravioli

So the hubs is suspected down with H1N1, unfortunately he came into contact with a student that is now in hospital with the virus. He's been down with fever since Friday and we can't go out as it is socially not the right thing to do. He's of course resting, sleeping most of the time and yes I am BORED to death haha! So what do I do...cook and blog! This is my attempt to make ravioli from scratch, ok not really. I cheated by using wanton skins instead of making the pasta dough. And dress it with creamy herb and bacon sauce. Was a big hit with the hubs. He said strangely it does not taste like Chinese wanton at all haha! Maybe it's the sauce...

Ingredients

Ravioli (makes 8 ravioli)

• 4 medium prawns, diced
• 20g crab meat
• 1 shitake mushroom, diced
• 1 teaspoon parmesan cheese, finely grated
• 1 teaspoon cream or ricotta cheese
• Salt, pepper & dash of dried mixed herbs
• 16 ready-made wanton skins

Sauce

• 3 slices bacon, chopped
• 1 teaspoon garlic, diced
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tablespoon parmesan cheese, finely grated
• olive oil, salt, pepper & dried mixed herbs

Method

1. Make the ravioli by mixing the first 6 ingredients in a bowl. Lay out 8 wanton skins, spoon 1 teaspoon heap of the mix into the centre of the skin. Seal by lining with water and top with another skin.
2. Cook the ravioli in boiling salt water for about 8mins.
3. To make the sauce, saute the garlic and bacon in olive oil and turn off the fire.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks and cheese till blended. Season and add to the bacon and mix thoroughly. Make sure to do this off the fire or you'll get scrambled eggs ;)
5. Dish 4 ravioli onto a plate, spoon the sauce over top with freshly cracked black pepper and serve. Enjoy!

my own chow chow-der

I'm very proud to say that I made this Seafood Chowder from scratch and it is more or less my own recipe as well. The hubs is down with fever today and don't really have an appetite. So I thought I'll make a tasty chowder for him. Was researching for a recipe and most of them I found either took too long or had too many ingredients. So I improvised and came up with my own and again we were both pleasantly surprised. This definitely wet the sick hubs' appetite and he slurped up every last drop of it! So I shall share the recipe of my simple Seafood Chowder recipe with you. Ingredients (serves 2)

• 50g frozen crab meat, defrosted
• 10-12pcs of medium prawns, peeled, de-veined and diced into small pieces (not too tiny tho)
• 2 slices of bacon, diced into small pieces
• 1 medium potato, diced into small cubes
• 1 carrot, diced into small cubes
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1/8 bar of butter
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 2 cups prawn stock
• 2 tablespoon of pure cream
• seasoning: salt, pepper & dash of dried mixed herbs

Method

1. Make the prawn stock. Submerge prawn heads in a pot of water, bring to boil then simmer for about 30mins.
2. In a separate pot, heat butter with a dash of oil (adding a dash of oil will ensure butter will not be burnt) and sauteed the onions till translucent. Then add bacon and fry for about 2mins.
3. Add in carrots and potatoes, stir and coat in the butter, onion, bacon mix. Then pour in the wine, bring to boil and simmer to reduce till about half of the liquid remains.
4. Now add in the prawn stock and seasoning. Bring to boil, then cover and simmer for about 15mins or till carrots and potatoes are soft but not mashy.
5. Add in the seafood and simmer for about 10mins. Stir in cream, thicken with bit of cornstarch (optional), dish into bowls and serve hot with freshly cracked black pepper. Enjoy!

here fishie fishie

I'm sure all of us love our fish & chips but most of the time it's deep fried and oily, thus we avoid eating it unless and major craving hits. This week this recipe for oven-baked fish and chips kinda crossed my path twice so I just had to try it out. I went for the Parmesan-crumbled recipe and it was fantastic! Was pleasantly at how crispy the coating was despite not going anywhere near the pot of oil. Anyway, here's the recipe in case any of you have a craving and don't want the hassle of deep frying. Oh btw I didn't make the fries, it was frozen wedges which was heated in the oven too. But I made a wasabi mayo dip to go along with the fish.

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 1 cup breadcrumbs (you can be creative with this, I used this nutty walnut bread)
• 1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
• some finely grated lemon rind
• 120g melted butter
• 4pcs of any skinless white fish fillets
• 1 beaten egg
• plain flour for dusting
• lemon wedges to serve

Method

1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees. Place breadcrumbs, cheese, lemon rind and 80g of the butter in a bowl and mix well.
2. Dust the fish in the flour, dip in egg and press in breadcrumb mix.
3. Place fish on baking tray lined with non-stick paper and bake for 15mins or till golden brown. Serve with lemon wedges, ketchup and wasabi mayo. Enjoy!

under my paella, ella, ella...

Watched this show on tv last xmas where celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey cooked a 3-course xmas special dinner. He made this seafood paella that looked soo yummy! The hubs then suggested I try to make this for our xmas eve dinner rather than the usual meats, since we'll be eating lots of it on xmas day. So I gave it a shot and despite not being able to find the right type of grain, I have to say the outcome was amazingly close to and even better than some of the ones we tried at some Spanish restaurants. Here's the simplified recipe. Ingredients

• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 garlic clove, chopped
• 400g paella rice (Arborio)
• 125ml dry white wine
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• pinch of saffron thread
• 1 ltr veg stock
• seafood selection of your choice - for me it was mussels, prawns, fish & scallops
• 1 lemon cut into wedges
• olive oil
• salt & pepper

Method

1. Heat oil in large pan, add onion, cook briefly.
2. Add pepper, garlic, season with salt and pepper, cook till soften.
3. Sprinkle paprika and saffron, add in rice and stir well so that each grain is well coated.
4. Add wine and allow to evaporate before pouring in the hot stock.
5. Cover with lid and leave to simmer for 20mins. Stir occasionally to prevent rice from sticking.
6. 5 mins before end, add seafood, stir and replace lid.
7. Before serving, mix through and garnish with lemon wedges. Enjoy!

grandma alice's cutlets

This post is by special request from XLB. Grandma Alice is not my real grandma but my nanny when I was 4 till 7 yrs old. My bro and I are closer to her than our real grandparents. Grandma Alice is Eurasian, so needless to say she's a great cook and makes the best curry and stews. The 3 dishes I remember the most is her luncheon meat cutlets, this eggy prawn fritter and her famous bread & butter pudding. So one day I decided to try my hand in making her cutlets and rang her up for the recipe. I have to admit it's not easy to perfect it the way she does. As most of us know we usually dip the ball-mix into egg before frying it, as that helps hold the mix together and also gives that crispy outer layer. I tried it exactly according to her recipe and failed terribly, the whole thing fell apart when dropped into the oil. So I modified it slightly and here it goes.

Ingredients

• 1 can of luncheon meat
• 2 big potatoes
• 1/2 big onion
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon plain flour
• Pepper

Method

1. Boil the potatoes till soft, mash together with the luncheon meat.
2. Season with pepper, add flour, onion, 1 egg and mix well together.
3. Wet hands, scoop 1 flat tablespoon of the mix into palms, press and roll together quickly to form a ball and flatten it into a disc shape. Repeat with rest of mixture.
4. Heat oil in saucepan (I use saucepan so oil does not splatter everywhere). Make sure oil is hot enough, test by dipping a wooden chopstick in and if bubbles form around it means its hot.
5. Dip the cutlet balls into a bowl of beaten egg then shallow fry on one side first, then turn over to fry the other side till golden brown.
6. Drain on kitchen paper and serve with sweet Japanese mayonnaise. Enjoy :)