I made my very first pizza!

and i'm lovin' it! hehe. okay the crust was a little, or quite, hard. but there's always room for improvement right? haha anyone who has any tips, please shareee. anyway, here's the recipe!

Ingredients:

For the pizza dough -

400g plain white flour

10g yeast

360ml warm water 

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp olive oil

For the toppings - 

300g minced beef

100g passata 

100g mozzarella cheese

1 packet white mushrooms, sliced

sundried tomatoes 

1 egg

1. To make the dough, combine the flour, yeast and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the olive oil and water and knead everything together on a floured surface until smooth. Roll the dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover loosely with cling film and a wet towel and place it in a cool, dark place. Allow it to rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in size. 

2. In the meantime, add a bit of olive oil to a pan and stir fry the minced beef till just cooked.

3. Pre-heat the oven to 200 deg C.

4. Roll out the dough on a lightly oiled baking tray. Spread the passata evenly over the dough, leaving a 1.5-2cm boundary around the edges. 

5. Sprinkle the mozzarella over the passata, and top with mushrooms, minced beef and sundried tomatoes.

6. Bake in the oven for 20min, or until the crust is firm.

7. Remove the baking tray from the oven and crack an egg right in the middle of the pizza. Put it back in the oven for 3-4min, or until the egg is cooked through. Serve hot.

i also made other dishes to go along with the pizza!

Chickpea soup

Ingredients:

1 can chickpeas, drained

2 carrots, cut into small cubes

1 onion, finely chopped

300g passata

500ml chicken stock

400ml water 

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

1. Fry the onions and carrots in a bit of olive oil in a saucepan. 

2. When the onion softens, add the chicken stock and bring it to a boil.

3. Add the water and passata and bring it to a boil again. Cover the pot and allow it to simmer for 15min or until the carrots soften.

4. Add in the chickpeas, stir in the vinegar and allow it to boil for 2-3min. Serve.

Veggie dip

Ingredients:

2 carrots, washed and peeled

handful of mint leaves, chopped

juice of ¼ lemon

100ml fat free natural yogurt 

1 avocado

1-2 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1. Cut the avocado in half and remove the seed. Scoop out all the flesh into a bowl and add in the yogurt. Drizzle the lemon juice, olive oil and mint leaves and mix everything well, such that it is evenly combined. Add salt and pepper to taste.

2. Cut the carrots (or your preferred vegetable) into sticks and enjoy with the dip! 

French onion soup, Lemon paprika prawns and French bean & almond salad

hello! (: i'm super excited to share my recipes for today because i'm so happy with how they turned out! and all the recipes are relatively simple to do, except the soup which is a little tedious, but not very difficult nonetheless ^^ ah my photos are always so bad, but it's the taste that matters yeah? :p haha. didn't feel like i cooked a large quantity of food but i'm glad that it filled the tummies of my loved ones :) we were surprisingly really full after the meal! super satisfied :D 

French Onion Soup

Ingredients:

30g butter

675g onions, thinly sliced

1 tsp sugar

120ml dry red wine

2 tbsp plain white flour

1.5 litres beef stock

1 baguette

garlic spread

115g emmental cheese 

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over a low heat. Stir together the onions and sugar. Cook the onions for 40min, uncovered, stirring occasionally so that they do not stick and burn on the bottom, until they are browned.

2. Stir the wine into the onions. Increase the heat to medium and stir for 5min or until the onions are glazed. Sprinkle with the flour and stir for 2min. Stir in the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and leave the soup to simmer for 30min. Add water if too salty.

3. Meanwhile, slice the baguette and spread generously with garlic spread. Toast the baguettes till the garlic is fragrant, sprinkle cheese over and toast till the cheese melts. Place 1 slice of baguette in each bowl and pour the soup over. Serve immediately.

This was a really warm hearty soup which we all loved! and the bread inside was probably what filled us up (: *rubs tummy*

Lemon Paprika Prawns

a really simple dish that is zesty and spicy!

Ingredients:

450g prawns, washed

2 tbsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

salt

2 tsp hot paprika

juice of 2 lemons

1. Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium heat, add the garlic and fry for 1min, stirring, then increase the heat and add the prawns. Fry for 3min on high heat, stirring frequently.

2. Add the paprika and lemon juice and season to taste with salt. Serve.

French bean & almond salad

it's a close fight between this and my french onion soup, but if i had to pick a favourite, it'd be this dish for its simplicity! (: i loved how it was so easy to prepare and yet so absolutely delicious with its yummy sauce!!!! i modified the recipe a little from taza's blog ;)

Ingredients:

1 packet of french beans, sliced

3 carrots, sliced

1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 cup white vinegar

3 tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp wholegrain mustard

1 cup almonds, chopped

1, Toast the almonds in the toaster for 3min.

2. Boil the french beans and carrots in a pot of salted water for 5-10min till your desired softness. Make sure they're not too soft that they break into pieces when mixed. Drain and set aside. 

3. Whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, maple syrup and mustard. 

4. Toss with the french beans, carrots and almonds. Serve. 

Pan-seared scallops and Braised eggplant

each time my cooking turns out successfully is such a happy occasion for me! (: it's really a sense of accomplishment and warmth to be able to cook for the people i love ^^ and big thank you to my family who are the most supportive fans of my cooking haha. they always eat up every single morsel and never fail to sing praises of it!

haha so i did a very "fusion" dinner that night, with one western and one chinese dish. finally managed to find affordable scallops in the supermarket after trying to hunt for them the previous week! so i decided to cook this dish today ^^ my first time cooking scallops and i wanted something manageable, and this was an awesome recipe!!! so simple, and it allows the scallops to take centre-stage with a scrumptious sauce to top it off!

Pan-seared scallops
Ingredients:
1 packet of scallops
1/3 cup white wine
4 cloves of garlic, minced
3 tbsp chilled butter
a handful of thyme
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Pour one tablespoon of oil into the pan. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the scallops right before throwing them in the pan. Sear 3-5min on one side, or until browned. Flip it to the other side and sear for another 3-5min. Remove from the pan and keep them warm in the oven at around 60 dec C.
2. In the same pan, pour in the white wine and garlic. Bring it to the boil. Allow it to boil till the wine has reduced to around 2 tbsp. Add in the butter, one tablespoon at a time, until fully melted and mixed well. Stir in the thyme.
3. Pour the sauce over the scallops and serve.

okay this dish looks like a pile of mush, but i'm so proud of it!!!!!! i finally managed to do an eggplant dish that is cooked properly and tastes good :') you have no idea how many times i've failed with this ingredient -.- i don't think i've ever put up an eggplant recipe on my blog because it always turns out rather awfully :( it takes a really long time to soften! and i never managed to cook it long enough to get rid of the raw taste. sighs.

but...i finally did!!!! (: chinese-way of cooking eggplant has proved to work best (Y) hehe. the secret? (no secret actually) - braise it. works perfectly, and doesn't require too much effort. i threw in a whole bunch of my other favourite ingredients so it's really yummy ^^

Braised Eggplant
Ingredients:
1 packet of eggplant
1 packet of minced pork
1 packet of enoki mushrooms, trimmed ends, rinsed
a handful of dried shrimps, soaked
5 tbsp shaoxing wine
2 tbsp light soy sauce
5 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp black vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 dried small red hot chilis, diced

1. Trim off the stems of the eggplant. Cut into small rounds/lengthwise into rectangular pieces.
2. In a bowl, mix the wine, soy sauces, sugar and vinegar and 2/3 cup of water.
3. Drizzle 1-2 tbsp oil into a wok. When the oil is heated, add the garlic and shrimps and fry till fragrant. Add in the minced pork and fry it till it is almost fully cooked. Add the eggplant and chili and fry till it is slightly brown.
3. Pour in the sauces and stir well to make sure everything is well coated. Bring it to the boil and then reduce to a simmer. Allow it to simmer for around 10min, stirring occasionally, or until the eggplant has softened.
4. Stir in the mushrooms, bring to the boil again. Then remove from heat and serve. 

Sambal fried rice & Cold tofu with pork floss

these two are dishes that i love to eat in restaurants/zi char places when i go out! and i always want to recreate dishes that i like, so that i can have it whenever i want ;) these two recipes were mainly invented by myself, with just some inspiration from recipes i sourced online (: 

Sambal Fried Rice

Serves 6

Ingredients:

3 cups of rice, stored in the fridge overnight

1 heaped tbsp of sambal (or more if you like it spicier. this was average-ly spicy!)

2 tbsp ketchup

a handful of dried shrimps, soaked

4 chinese sausages, sliced

6 cloves of garlic, minced

a handful of cherry tomatoes, washed and halved

12 eggs, beaten (2 for each omelette)

1. Mix the sambal and ketchup in a bowl.

2. Fry the dried shrimps and garlic till slightly browned. Add in the chinese sausages and fry for about 2min. 

3. Add the cherry tomatoes and fry till they just start to soften.

4. Add in the rice and mix well, frying for about 5min.

5. Add the sambal+ketchup mixture and fry till all the rice is coated. Add more ketchup/sambal if necessary. Set aside.

6. Fry the eggs, two at a time to make an omelette.

7. Serve the fried rice with the omelette.

Cold tofu with pork floss

Serves 6

Ingredients:

3 pieces of silken tofu

some pork floss
a pinch of dried shrimps, soaked (amount should be much less than that used for fried rice)
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp cornstarch mixed with a bit of water

1. Place silken tofu in a bowl and ladle with boiling water, being careful not to break the tofu (it is very fragile!). Place the tofu back in the fridge for at least 30min.
2. Mix the oyster sauce, dark & light soy sauce and sugar in a small pot and heat it up. Slowly add in the cornstarch mixture till the sauce thickens to your desired texture. Bring to a boil then allow it to cool.
3. Fry the shrimps with a bit of oil.
4. To serve, scatter the shrimps and pork floss over the tofu and spoon some sauce over it.

packed this for darling's lunch for him to eat! (: 

Korean-style bbq ribs and oven-roasted vegetables

don't you love the colours in this photo? :D if you want to have a healthy diet, colours in your food are a good bet! (: there must be a reason why vegetables are so colourful right? ^^ and i've grown to appreciate veggies over the years!

Oven-roasted Vegetables

Ingredients:

1 packet asparagus, cut in half

1 packet button mushrooms, washed

3 large carrots, sliced

3 garlic cloves, diced

6 tbsp olive oil

salt, to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 200 deg C. 

2. Place the asparagus, mushrooms and carrots in different bowls. Separate the garlic into each of the bowls and drizzle 2 tbsp of olive oil into each bowl. Add salt to taste. Toss.

3. Place the carrots on a baking tray and roast for 15min.

4. Add the asparagus and mushrooms to the tray and roast for another 10-15min. Test for doneness. Serve.

Korean-style BBQ Ribs

Serves 5

honestly, i'm not entirely sure why the recipe considered this 'korean' :p but i absolutely loved the taste of it, especially when i jazzed up the original recipe with my special ingredient ;)

*drumrolls...........*

YUZU JUICE! :D it lent a delicious sweet/sour note to the sauce, which was absolutely refreshing! 

Ingredients:

800g pork ribs (try not to choose those which are too thick as it'll make it difficult to cook)

4 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tbsp light soya sauce

4 tbsp yuzu juice (you can get it from ntuc under the PeelFresh brand!)

2 tsp sugar

2 garlic cloves, diced 

1. To make the marinade, mix the oyster sauce, soya sauce, yuzu juice, sugar and garlic well in a bowl.

2. Marinate the pork ribs with the sauce and place them in a ziplock bag/in a bowl with a cling wrap over it. Leave it to marinate for 15min-1.5hours. Of course, the longer you give, the better the flavour is absorbed by the meat.

3. Remove the meat from the marinade and stir fry it till fully cooked through.

4. Cook the remaining sauce separately by boiling it. Pour it over the meat and serve.

just wanna share this website which i found really useful! ^^ it's like marinades101 haha. teaches you all the key ingredients to include in your marinade to make it PERFECT ;) 

Eat Clean (:

so, since i came back from europe, i've been missing my salads terribly!! :( i made salad for lunch pretty often while i was there - because it's cheap, healthy and so it makes me feel good while im trying my darnest best not to gain too much weigh while im there. (realised halfway through exchange that all efforts to completely NOT gain weight are just a figment of my imagination... :/ haha).

anyway, i've been wanting to re-create my salads since i got back to singapore! (: and of course, with my nice kitchen now that i'm back, it's so much easier to go so ^^ aghhh i wanted to cook dinner that day, but work prevented me from doing so :( *sobs*

i got a packet of mesclun salad from ntuc (which is so much more expensive than in europe >:( really! haha i know i'm digressing, but i really have to say that actually buying groceries in europe was pretty affordable ^^ which makes me really happy hehe ^^ especially stuff like salad! so much more affordable there - at 99c or at most €1.99, when here it's like $4.50?!) and my salad-making started! ^^ i love making salads that are chock-full of ingredients, cos it's more balanced and fills me up better! (not to mention that somehow after eating salad, i always feel like junking later in the day though >.< especially when i'm out...went to ion that day and i simply couldn't resist the food hall. sighhhh)

Ingredients:

1 packet of salad leaves

1 packet of minced pork 

(i just used half of the above two items)

handful of cherry tomatoes

handful of nuts

dressing of your choice (i used a pomegranate vinaigrette that we got from chelsea market in new york)

1. Wash the salad leaves. Leave them to soak in water.

2. Add a bit of oil to a saucepan.

3. Fry the minced pork lightly till its cooked. 

4. Drain the salad leaves, add the cooked minced pork and other ingredients. 

5. Drizzle the sauce over and toss! (: 

simple and yummy meal ^^ i love! 

Mustard-Maple Chicken, Honey Ginger Carrots & Caramelized Onion-stuffed baked potato

hiya! (: i finally got around to cooking since i got back from europe, and i've really missed cooking in my own kitchen! it's something else all together when you're cooking in the cold, with a complete lack of equipment and freezing tap water to top it off. haha okay, enough about the awful kitchen in castellanza. i shudder at the memory :P

happy that i managed to cook three dishes this time! (: and i did it in about 3 hours? haha because of the long waiting times with the food in the oven. i actually slightly modified some of the recipes (so happy to be cooking new things again!!! :D), like the chicken was supposed to be pork, but well glad that it turned out yummy anyway! ^^

Mustard-Maple Chicken

Ingredients:

4 pieces of chicken fillet/leg

2 tbsp wholegrain mustard 

1 tbsp maple syrup

2 tsp rosemary

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 160 deg C. Trim fat off the meat. Combine mustard, maple syrup, rosemary, salt and black pepper and spoon onto meat. 

2. Marinate the meat for a couple of minutes.

3. Place in the oven, uncovered for 45min.

Honey Ginger Carrots

Ingredients:

4 large carrots, sliced

2 1/2 tbsp honey

a small piece of ginger (depending on your preference), ground

1 lime

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Cook carrots till they are tender but not soft, ~5min.

2. In a pan, add some oil, the honey and ginger. Mix well, and add the carrots. Stir the carrots, making sure they are well coated and heated through. Squeeze the lime in.

Caramelized Onion-stuffed baked potato

Ingredients:

4 russet potatoes, scrubbed

1/2 tsp salt

1 onion, vertically sliced

2 tsp sugar

2 tbsp red wine

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1 garlic clove, minced

1. Prick holes in the potatoes with a fork and place them in the oven at 220 deg C for 50min. Rearrange the potatoes every 20min.

2. Remove potatoes from the oven and allow them to cool.

3. When cooled, slice off 1/4 of the potato, lengthwise, and scoop out the pulp from the whole potato, leaving a 0.5cm thick shell.

4. Add oil to a pan, sugar and onion and sauté till browned (~8min). Stir in red wine, Worcestershire sauce, thyme and garlic. Add the potato pulp and salt. Fry for about 1 min.

5. Return the pulp back into the shells. 

Christmas! :))

Merry Christmas everybody!!! :) haha okay i know it's abit belated. but i wanted to finish all my celebrations before doing a post on it. i feel so happy and blessed this christmas! ^^ surrounded by family, friends and loved ones, this year's Christmas was really an awesome celebration :) i had three christmas dinners consecutively from christmas eve to boxing day! :D it's been really the most amazing #christmas2012 ever :')

this feast looks SO DELICIOUS right?!!!! omg. i'm so inspired! it looks so martha stewart-like! she's my idol haha. anyway, this was my christmas eve party with sam and his family & family friends! :) it was a really lovely spread and a really nice cosy heartwarming atmosphere. cos i'm still coughing terribly (yeah i've been sick for almost three weeks now :/), i didnt talk much, but it was nice sitting there listening to all the conversation! anw it was my first time meeting all of them, so quite fun to just listen to them talk.

my darling is back from his holiday!!!! just in time for christmas ^^ all i could ask for christmas <3<3<3 so happy to see him, it was really all i needed :) this christmas tree is gorgeous isnt it! it was at the party too! i really loved the whole warm christmas-y ambience and food and all. hehe shall keep this in mind when i host a party next time! :) especially when we move back to our house....i wanna have a nice christmas party next year!!

on christmas day, had dinner with the family! ^^ and i'm so proud to say that me & mummy prepared all of these food! except the log cake. haha that was from Bakerzin. but everything from the appetizers, main course and drinks were prepared by me, with mummy as my sous chef ;)

here's what was on the menu:

- prawn cocktail (appetizer)

- mince pies

- pan fried potatoes

- cranberry cocktail (drink)

- log cake

*if you wanna see the recipes for these dishes, it's at the end of this post! :)

boxing day dinner with hopers! :)))) so glad that we finally had a chance to gather again ^^ really happy for all this festive season! although i had work the next day, but all the fun we had made it totally worth ittttt :) and i had such fun cooking for them! with sam as my assistant ;) heh. and ngan brought nic this time too!! only missing tzewei and dom who are busy travelling haha. can't wait for them to be back! must have a proper gathering before i fly off :(

okie that's all for christmas. can't wait for NEW YEAR now!!!!

have fun cooking and enjoy your 12 days of christmas! ^^

Prawn Cocktail, Mexican Style

250g prawns

1 tbsp olive oil

juice of 1 lime

sundried tomato puree

1 tbsp coriander

1 tbsp tabasco

2 tbsp sour cream

4 tbsp mayonnaise

iceberg lettuce

1. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and fry the prawns until they turn pink. Transfer to a bowl, sprinkle with lime juice and tabasco. Stir well till prawns are coated. Set aside to cool.

2. Add tomato puree and chopped coriander to the sour cream & mayonnaise and stir till combined.

3. Lay the lettuce at the base of cocktail glasses

4. Place the prawns onto the lettuce and spoon over with the sauce.

Mince Pies 

200g plain four

40g caster sugar

40g ground almonds

125g butter

1 large egg, beaten

milk, to glaze

Mincemeat:

225g minced beef, cooked

225g apples, peeled, cored, chopped

225g sultanas

225g raisins

1 orange, zest & juice

60ml cognac

1. Mix all the mincemeat ingredients together. (can be packed in sterilized jars and stored in a cool dark place until use)

2. Lightly butter a 12 hole pie or patty tin. Tip the mincemeat into a bowl and stir so that the liquid is evenly distributed.

3. Rub the butter into the plain flour, caster sugar and ground almonds and stir in the egg.

4. Bring the mixture together with your hands, wrap in clingfilm and chill for an hour or so. Thinly roll out the pastry on a floured surface. Cut out 12 circles with a pastry cutter, large enough to fill the base of the prepared tin. Press gently into each hole, then fill with mincemeat.

5. Cut another 12 slightly smaller discs and use to cover the pies. Press the edges together to seal. Make a small slit in the top of each, then brush lightly with milk. Chill for about 30min.

6. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.

7. Bake the pies for 20min or until golden brown. Remove to a wire rack and serve warm.

Pan fried potatoes

5 large potatoes

4 cloves of garlic, sliced

thyme & rosemary, to season

1. Wash the potatoes and peel them. Slice into 0.5cm thick pieces.

2. Fry some garlic in oil in a frying pan, then add as many slices to cover the bottom of the pan.

3. Fry for 5min on one side, or until it turns golden brown. Season it.

4. Flip it over to the other side and fry till golden brown.

5. Repeat steps 2-4 for the remaining potato slices & garlic.

Cranberry Cocktail

2 1/2 cup cranberry juice

1 cup water

60ml vodka

finely grated zest of 1 orange

finely grated zest of 1 lime

1. Mix all the ingredients together. Chill for half and hour. Strain into glasses to serve.

Nachos

500g plain nachos

500g ground beef

salsa

250g cheddar cheese

jalepenos

sour cream

300g kidney beans, drained, rinsed

onion, finely chopped

35g taco seasoning

chili powder

2 tbsp tomato paste

1/2 cup coriander leaves

1. Cook and stir ground beef and onion over medium heat until meat is crumbly and no longer pink (5-10min).

2. Add kidney beans, chili powder, seasoning and tomato paste and 1/4 cup water.

3. Simmer for 5min until thick. Stir in coriander leaves.

4. Arrange nachos on a plate. Top with cheese, minced beef and beans. Bake for 5-10min, or until cheese is melted.

5. Top with salsa, sour cream and jalepenos and serve.

Chicken Stew

2 carrots, peeled and diced

2 celery stalks, diced

2 medium onions, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp flour

1 can diced tomatoes

few sprigs of thyme

12 chicken drumsticks

2 cups white wine

chicken stock

1. Prep all the vegetables. Just roughly chopped will do. In a casserole pot, fry the carrots, celery, onions, garlic and thyme with some olive oil for 5-10min over medium heat. The onions will be soft and translucent.

2. Raise the heat to high and add the chicken. Cook the chicken until it's no longer pink on the outside.

3. Add the white wine and diced tomatoes.

4. Add water/chicken stock until it just covers the chicken and vegetables. Bring the stew to a boil.

5. Once it's boiling, reduce heat to a simmer, put on the lid and leave it for 1 hour.

6. Remove the lid to reduce the liquid. Stir it once in awhile to prevent the vegetables and chicken from scorching the bottom.

7. Once reduced to your preference, serve.

Soy Sauce Chicken & Stir-fried Long bean with dried shrimp

yay now that it's the holidays i've got time to cook again! :) at least for one day this time. and looking forward to christmas when i can cook again! haha. after a slight disaster in my attempt to bake an apple crumble (boohoo :( ), i was kinda apprehensive about being in the kitchen. haha i guess being an experimental chef sometimes does make things rather unpredictable. so anyway, to be on the safe side i decided to stick with chinese cuisine, which i felt would be hard to bungle up, and i didnt want to touch the oven that soon again, so. :P and phew, it was a success!!!! ^^ i got inspiration from random blogs, so thanks to my fellow food lovers! :)

Soy Sauce Chicken

Ingredients

4 chicken drumsticks

4 hard boiled eggs

Sauce:

1 cup light sauce

4 tbsp sweet dark soy sauce

1/2 cup chinese cooking wine

approximately 2 cups water

3 star anise

ginger, sliced

4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

4 tbsp sugar

1. Clean the drumsticks and set aside.

2. In a pot, combine the sauce ingredients (slowly adding the water while tasting to ensure the preferred level of saltiness) together. Cover and simmer on medium-low heat for 15 minutes until it is fragrant.

3. Add in the chicken and let it simmer for 15-20min.

4. Add in the hard boiled eggs and turn of the heat. Cover the lid and let the chicken & eggs soak for 20min.

5. Place on a plate, halve the hard boiled eggs and serve.

recipe from mykitchensnippets

Stir-fried Long bean with dried shrimp

Ingredients:

8 long beans (cut to 5cm length)

2 tbsp dried shrimp, soaked

4 cloves garlic, diced

ginger, diced

1 chili padi, sliced

Sauce:

1 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 cup water

1. Heat oil in a wok, add the ginger and garlic. Fry till fragrant.

2. Add the chili padi and fy, then add the shrimp.

3. Add long beans and stir fry till they are tender.

4. Add the sauce and fry for another 3-5min. Serve.

recipe from mywhitekitchen

happy cooking! :)) if you have any good recipes for chinese food, let me know!!! especially when i'm going for exchange, i'm gonna need them haha.

Chicken Jalousie & Grilled Cherry Tomatoes

it's great when i still have time to cook sometimes during the school semester! :) i always spend the entire afternoon in the kitchen. i've been saying that i need to learn to cook faster, but oh well :P it's cos i always try new dishes everytime i cook. so far i've barely repeated any dishes haha.

Chicken Jalousie

this is something like a chicken pie! but slightly drier and less ingredients.

Ingredients:

25g butter

1 tsp chopped dried thyme

1 tsp plain flour

90ml chicken stock

1 tsp lemon juice

500g packet puff pastry (you can make your own! but i cheated this time and just got it from the store)

300g skinless boneless cooked chicken

100g cooked brown mushrooms

salt & freshly ground pepper

1 egg, beaten

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in the thyme, then sprinkle over the flour and stir in. Gradually blend the stock and bring to the boil, stirring until thickened. Remove from the heat, stir in the lemon juice and leave to cool.

2. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees C. Roll out half the pastry on a lightly floured surface. Lay the pastry on a large dampened baking tray. Roll out the remaining pastry to a rectangle, lightly dust with flour.

3. Stir the chopped chicken and mushrooms into the stock mixture, and season with salt & pepper. Spoon evenly over the pastry base, leaving a 2.5cm border. Pour the beaten egg on top. Dampen the edges of the pastry with water. Place the second piece of pastry on top and press the edges together to seal.

4. Bake for 25min or until golden brown and crisp. Leave to cool for a few minutes before serving.

Grilled Cherry Tomatoes

2 pints of cherry tomatoes

4 tbsp of olive oil

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 tbsp dried thyme

1 tbsp dried basil

1. Heat the olive oil in a pan and fry the garlic till it's fragrant.

2. Add the cherry tomatoes to the pan, and sprinkle the herbs on top.

3. Fry the cherry tomatoes till they lose their roundness and start turning soft. Serve with the garlic and olive oil in the pan.

Beef Bourguignon with Mashed Potatoes & Summer salad with Blackberry vinagrette

it's been quite a while since i've cooked! >.< since my internship started, i barely had the time to do anything, let alone whip up a meal, cos i usually spend a LOT of time when i cook :P seeing that i'm gonna be going for exchange soon, i think i'd better learn how to cook simpler dishes haha. usually i spend the entire afternoon in the kitchen. something i can only do during the school holidays. anyway, quite proud of what i cooked this time! ;)

Beef Bourguignon

Ingredients:

900g braising steak, cut into cubes

175g streaky bacon rashers, chopped

12 small shallots

cornflour

300ml red wine

300ml beef stock

115g mini portobello mushrooms

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C. Fry the bacon in a non-stick frying pan until lightly browned. Drain on kitchen paper and transfer into a casserole.

2. Lightly rub the beef cubes with some cornflour.

3. Depending on how much fat is left from the bacon, add a little oil to the pan if necessary so that you have about 2-3 tbsp. Fry the beef in batches over a hight heat, transferring to a casserole when they're lightly brown.

4. Reduce the heat to a medium heat and fry the shallots. Transfer to the casserole and stir a little more cornflour into the frying pan. Pour the wine and stock into the frying pan and bring to the boil, stirring constantly until smooth.

4. Add the mushrooms.Pour the contents of the pan over the meat and shallots in the casserole. Cover and cook in the oven for 2 hours, or until the meat is very tender.

5. Serve hot with mashed potatoes.

Mashed Potatoes

5 potatoes

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup butter, melted

1. Boil the potatoes until they are soft.

2. Mash the potatoes, slowly adding the milk and butter in equal amounts, until the mixture is smooth.

3. Warm it slightly, and serve.

Summer Salad with Blackberry vinagrette

Ingredients:

Blackberry vinagrette

1 cup blackberries

4 cups mixed salad greens

1/4 chopped macadamia nuts

1. Wash the salad greens thoroughly and dry them.

2. Toss them together with the other ingredients and sauce. Serve.

Shrimp Diabolo and Chickpeas with Spinach

this is quite a healthy meal i cooked this time! haha the picture sucks :( didnt manage to get a good photo of it before everyone started digging in -.- and i only used instagram to get a photo, so...here it is. haha.

Shrimp Diabolo

2 tbsp oil

1 onion

3 garlic cloves, crushed

120ml dry white wine

250g passata (sieved tomatoes)

450g cooked peeled tiger prawns

1-2 tbsp chili sauce

2 tsp worcestershire sauce

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the onion for 5min, or until softened and beginning to turn golden.

2. Add the garlic and fry for a few seconds. Stir in the wine and let it bubble away for 1-2min.

3. Stir in the passata and bring to the boil, stirring, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5min, or until reduced slightly.

4. Add the prawns and stir until piping hot. Do not overcook or the prawns will become tough. Stir in the chili and worcestershire sauce, and serve immediately.

Chickpeas with Spinach

3 tbsp oil

500g spinach leaves

300g chickpeas, rinsed and drained

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 tsp paprika

1 tbsp sherry vinegar

1. Rinse the spinach and shake off any excess water. Place it in a large saucepan and cook over a low heat, tossing constantly so that it does not stick to the pan. When it has wilted, transfer the spinach to a colander and squeeze out as much water as possible by pressing it with a wooden spoon, then place on a chopping board and chop coarsely.

2. Heat the remaining oil in the frying pan, add the spinach and allow it to warm through before stirring in the chickpeas. Add the paprika.

3. Add the vinegar and 2 tbsp of water and allow to heat through for several minutes. Serve.