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Sunday, 26 April 2015

Stuffed Bitter Gourd with minced meat

Today I decided to do minced meat stuffed bitter gourd rings. When I was young I avoided all sorts of vegetables n eating bitter gourd - no way!

I was introduced to eating bitter gourd through my hubby who loves bitter gourd soup.

Anyway today I am trying out a recipe from this link


I don't know if my bean sauce is the same as the author's. 

Recipe 
One bitter gourd washed n cut into 8 sections (about 400gm) I discarded the ends 
Minced pork about 200gm 

Pork marinade 
Kikkoman soy sauce 1 & 1/2 tsp
Fine sugar 1/2 tsp
Pepper sprinkle
Corn starch 2 tbsp



Gravy 
A little oil
2 pcs garlic crushed 
1 tbsp black bean sauce
1/3 cup water ( I increased to 1/2 cup)
Sprinkle of sugar


Method
Heat some  oil in a pan
Place the bitter gourd on pan n fry at high heat
Then turn down to medium heat n fry till bitter gourd colour turn a bit brown
Flip over n cook the same way 
Remove onto plate 

Add more oil n fry garlic n the bean paste together. Stir quickly.
Add in the bitter gourd again, add the water n sprinkle some sugar n let the water boil.
Cover the pan and cook further. 
This will help the bitter gourd to soften n ensure the minced meat is cooked .
Dish up n plate n pour the gravy over the bitter gourds.
I'm quite pleased with minced meat taste. 
The gravy wasn't salty as I was quite scared when using the bean paste.
The bitter gourds was still not as soft as I wanted them so I think I can let them cook longer when covered the next round. 

The bitter gourd n minced meat

Cut n use a small spoon to remove the seeds 

Put the minced meat in


I used this brand of bean paste 

Cooking with bean paste 

Cross section 

Enjoy them with rice! Happy cooking!

Wednesday, 22 April 2015

Long Beans Egg omelette

This is a simple homecooked dish. I cooked this recently to eat with my plain porridge. Seriously the weather so hot nowadays, our appetite is somewhat affected. 

Back to my dish - simple ingredients anyone can do.

My hubby says can fry with French Beans too.


Ingredients 

3 eggs beaten with some white pepper n soy sauce
About 4-5 strands of long beans diced 
2 pcs of garlic skin removed n chopped finely
Some cooking oil

Method
Cut away the ends of the long beans 
Diced into 1/2 cm or 1 cm lengths
Heat some oil in a large frying pan 
Fry the garlic for about 30 seconds
Add in the beans n fry together stirring often 
The beans turn a bit bright green then add in eggs
Swirl the eggs to cover the entire surface of pan
Let eggs sit for a while n edges start to be cooked
Try n flip the whole piece of egg over to brown the other side 
When cooked, use the spatula n cut the egg into smaller pieces and serve on dish 
Can be eaten with rice or porridge 

Some ingredients

Fry until slightly bright green 

Let eggs cover entire surface

Flip over n fry till done

Happy cooking!

Monday, 20 April 2015

No bake Oreo Cream Cheese Cupcakes


Tadah!!! Isn't this lovely to look at? If I own a cafe I will definitely make these to sell!

This recipe is modified using fruit loops as decoration

The original recipe you can view on YouTube from Eugienie Kitchen

You have to let it set overnight before decoration 

Recipe 
Ingredients
A
57 gm Mcvities biscuits crushed to fine 
30 gm unsalted butter melted 

B
4 pcs of Oreo cookies crushed roughly

C
155 gm Philadelphia cream cheese softened
50 gm icing sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 

D
120 ml whipping cream whipped till soft peaks I used Emborg whipping cream

E for decoration 
Either use Oreo cookies remove cream n crush
Or use fruit loops crushed

Method
A
Line a six hole cupcake tray with cupcake liners
Crush the Mcvities in a zip lock bag till fine
Melt the butter
Mix together in a bowl
Spoon evenly into each cupcake hole n press to form a firm base with a back of a spoon. Set aside 

B
Crush the Oreo in ziplock bag n set aside

C
Use a spatula n mix all together

Then add in the crushed Oreos 

Mix in

D
Whip the whipping cream with electric beater to obtain soft peaks

Fold the whipping cream into the Oreo mixture

Use a icecream scoop n scoop into the prepared cupcake tray

Mcvities base

Whipped cream beaten



Smooth the tops n chill overnight

Crush the fruit loops

Decorate the outside of heart with green fruit loops n the inside with red fruit loops

Done!

Cross section

Decorated with fruit loops non crush

Happy eating!!

Saturday, 18 April 2015

Jemput Jemput Pisang Mashed Banana Balls


After watching a certain episode of ch5 TV show - Throwback: Balik Kampong which showed 3 families trying to sell kampong food, I decided to try fry banana balls too

As there wasn't a measurement of ingredients mentioned in the show I googled YouTube n followed one recipe but slightly modified 


It is best to use really ripe bananas so that they will taste sweeter. I was eager to make these and I didn't wait for the bananas to turn really ripe. However if you prefer less sweet than these are good enough.

Recipe

I used 5 pcs of these bananas

Into a large bowl peel n cut the bananas into small slices - to help easier mashing later
Add in 2 tablespoon caster sugar
Add in 3 tablespoon brown sugar
Mash the bananas and set aside

After mashing

Prepare your flour
Mix 2 cups of plain flour with 1/4 pack of yeast which is about 3 gms - youncan get this brand from Fairprice supermarket 
1 sachet is 11 gm


Mix well n add in about 80% into the bananas
Use a spatula n mix in 
Now add the rest of the flour n add about 1/3 cup of water to mix until this consistency 


Then keep the bowl covered n rest for 30 minutes

After resting 30 minutes n ready to fry

Heat a wok with oil deep enough for frying. Note there must be bubbles forming on the base of wok.
Turn the heat lower n drop in small balls of batter to fry.
After a few seconds use your frying spatula to move the balls around so they won't stick together.
Fry until golden brown. Remove n drain on paper towels.

Wet your hand with a bowl of water before you scoop the batter for frying

Frying

Some halfway

Flip over for even frying

All done 2 plates of banana balls



Depending on your preference - if you fry for longer time the skin will be crispier but can turn slightly darker 

Enjoy!


Tuesday, 14 April 2015

Scandinavian white bread

According to the author of this recipe scalded flour is used traditionally in Scandinavian breads

Scalded flour is flour mixed with hot boiling water n kneaded with the main bread dough


The bread was soft but however the next day I find that it wasn't as soft. I used hand kneading this time following the recipe.

Also I followed the way of rolling the dough so it resulted in difficulty of cutting the bread towards the ends when some part of the bread may fall apart.


Do give it a try and judge for yourself.

Out of the tin

Top view

Eating it with Planta margarine 

A piece of the bread