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! 

My experiment with Swedish meatballs!

why, doesn't everyone love IKEA's swedish meatballs? :) oh i guess apart from those who've tried the REAL swedish meatballs from Sweden, but i haven't had the privilege to, and i'm pretty happy with my meatball fix in Singapore as of now. I always had the impression that meatballs were really difficult to make, because my recipe book had this really loong recipe which intimidated me. but then i was struck with the inspiration to cook meatballs one of those Mondays, and i managed to find a pretty simple-to-follow recipe from storyofbing. after all these years i still like to read her blog once in awhile - especially her recipes ;)

so happy with these lovelies! ^^

Ingredients:
For the meatballs -
1 large egg
400g minced beef
4 slices of white bread (remove the brown edges) - i felt this could have been omitted without any negative impact on the taste of the meatballs
half an onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp chopped coriander
salt and pepper to taste

For the tomato sauce - 
1 onion, finely chopped
1 can chopped tomatoes
2 dried bay leaves
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp paprika
salt and pepper to taste

1. To make the sauce, fry the chopped onion till it becomes translucent. Add the chopped tomatoes and paprika and stir well to combine. Add the bay leaves, sugar, salt and pepper. Mix well, cover the saucepan and reduce the heat to medium-low. Let the mixture simmer gently till it becomes slightly thick.
2. For the meatballs, mix together the chopped onion, garlic and minced beef in a mixing bowl.
3. Slice the bread into 1cm squares, or smaller. Add this to the mixing bowl, together with the coriander, egg, salt and pepper. Mix well to combine.
3. Shape the meat into balls that are slightly larger than golf balls. Make sure that they're rolled tight so that they don't break apart while frying.
4. Add oil to the frying pan, till it reaches an ~1cm layer.
5. Put the pan on medium-high heat and wait for the oil to heat up.
6. When the oil is hot, add in the meatballs. Gently roll them around to brown all surfaces and ensure that they are cooked through.
7. When the meatballs are a deep golden brown, remove them from the pan and drain them on paper towels to remove the excess oil.
8. Add the meatballs to the sauce and let them warm through. Garnish with more coriander and serve.

Baked Pasta
for the perfect complement to our swedish meatballs, i made baked pasta as well! you can also replace pasta with lagsane sheets and the sausages with minced beef to make lagsane. a super easy peasy recipe! and it's a really hearty, homely recipe (:

Ingredients:
400g pasta
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
4 garlic sausages, sliced
1 ½ cup grated cheese (i used a mixture of mozzarella and parmesan)
1 tbsp flour
1 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook pasta according to directions on the packet. Drain and set aside.
2. Heat up some oil in a pan and fry the onions and garlic till fragrant and lightly brown. Add the flour. Stir well for 30seconds and add the milk. Continue to stir until the milk thickens and starts boiling.
3. Add in 1 cup of the grated cheese and salt and pepper. Once the cheese melts, turn off the fire and stir in the tomatoes, sausages, cooked pasta and eggs. Stir well to combine.
4. Preheat the oven to 190 deg C.
5. Spoon the pasta mixture into a casserole dish and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Bake in the oven for 30min or until the casserole is bubbly. Serve warm.

Salted Egg Squid, Pumpkin fried rice & Hearty beef soup

best part about having a two-day school week? having the time to do things i love, such as cooking ^^  been in the kitchen every monday on a pretty regular basis so far, and it's so fun to be able to whip up new dishes in the kitchen every week.

Salted Egg Squid

i LOVE salted egg and my two favourite places to have it are Irvins and Thaipan. decided to try it for myself one day since i love it so much! ^^ well as you can see, it's kinda still in a work-in-progress haha. i cooked my eggs a little too long, but other than that, it tasted yummy!! thanks Koi for the recipe!!! (:

Ingredients:

squid (i bought a packet of frozen squid because i was lazy - and had no idea how - to clean the whole squid. but i think buying it fresh would definitely taste better!)

4 salted eggs  

60g butter

1 tsp sugar

2 tsp olive oil

1 egg, beaten

black pepper to taste

curry leaves (optional)

1. Clean the squid (especially if you bought it fresh).

2. For the salted eggs (nobody told me this and i was initially flabbergasted as to what i should do with those black eggs O.o): Clean off all the black stuff and rinse the eggs under running water. You just need the yolks for this recipe.

3. Steam the salted egg yolks for 7-10min and mash it with the fork while it's hot. 

4. Fry the squid with olive oil, sugar and black pepper. Set aside.

5. Melt the butter over low heat, then mix in the mashed salted egg and cook till it forms a smooth paste.

6. Add in the beaten egg and stir till the mixture turns lumpy.

7. Add in the cooked squid and curry leaves. Toss to coat for 1min or less. Serve (: 

Pumpkin Fried Rice

Ingredients:

2 cups rice, cooked the previous night and refrigerated 

100g slightly fatty pork, sliced

1 packet shitake mushrooms

10g dried shrimp, soaked for 30min.

4 cloves garlic, minced

half a large onion, finely chopped

200g pumpkin, chopped

2 tbsp soy sauce

1. Heat some oil in a frying pan and cook the pork. Set aside.

2. Fry the dried shrimps, garlic and onion till fragrant. 

3. Add pumpkin and mushroom and stir-fry for 1-2min.

4. Add the rice, pork and soy sauce and fry everything together. You're done! :) 

Hearty Beef Soup

Ingredients: 

1 pound beef (stew meat), cut into small cubes

3 carrots, cut into cubes

3 stalks of celery, cut into cubes

1 can chopped tomatoes

1 large onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 bay leaves

500ml beef stock

500-700ml water (depending on your taste preference)

1. In a large pot, heat up 2 tbsp oil and fry the beef cubes till well-browned. Set aside.

2. Add in onion and garlic, and fry till onion is transparent. Add in carrots and celery and stir well. Add in some beef stock and bring to a boil. Scrape the bottom of the pot to make sure that nothing sticks. Add in the rest of the stock, browned beef, bay leaves, chopped tomatoes and enough water to cover all the ingredients.

3. Bring to a boil, and then let it simmer for 25min. Serve

Maple Pecan Granola

hi! (: finally here with my GRANOLA recipe ^^ this is actually my second try at making granola. the first time tasted alright (sorta), but wasn't great, so i wanted to improve on my recipe before i shared it with all of you! (: and i'm proud to say that my second try was much yummier! possibly because i used less ingredients to make a smaller quantity, which allowed it to be cooked better. plus i eat my granola at a tremendously slow pace, so the small quantity doesn't bother me. feel free to double (or triple) the quantity if you find that you finish this portion really quickly! it's a super simple recipe, and i can't wait to come up with more variations of this! ^^

Ingredients:

1 cup oats

¾ coarsely chopped pecan nuts

¼ cup chopped almonds

dried cranberries (whatever amount suits you - depends on how sweet you like your granola to be)

2 tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp coconut oil

1. Preheat oven to 150 deg C.

2. In a large bowl, toss together oats, pecan nuts and almonds. 

3. In another bowl, combine the maple syrup and coconut oil. 

4. Mix the dry and wet ingredients, making sure that the dry ingredients are evenly coated.

5. Spread the mixture on a baking tray such that it can be baked evenly. 

6. Bake granola for about 30min, checking at the 20min mark to make sure that it doesn't get burnt. 

7. Let it cool slightly and mix in the cranberries. And it's ready to be eaten with milk/yogurt or whichever way you wish! 

新年快乐! Kueh Lapis Recipe

hello! (: rushing out this post for you guys because CNY is just around the corner! i'm sure many people looooove kueh lapis, don't you? it's so sinful (especially after seeing this recipe, you'll know), but it's just so decadent ^^ it's probably one of the most expensive CNY goodies though, which is why mummy asked me to try to make it. and after doing so, i can totally understand why the price is justified. beware: this takes LOTS of time, and an infinite amount of patience. (i was starving for my dinner but had to keep putting it off so that i could finish this). 

soooo no time to waste, let's get into the recipe! 

(gotta say that my kueh lapis is not the most photogenic....i'll try again next year haha!)

Ingredients:

500g butter

20 egg yolks

8 egg whites (i will be posting another recipe soon on how you can utilise the rest of the egg whites. don't waste them!)

200g sugar

300g condensed milk

220g plain flour

½ tsp baking powder

4 tsp mixed spices (or 2 tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp nutmeg, ¼ tsp ginger, ¼ tsp cardamom)*

1 tsp vanilla essence 

3 tbsp rum (optional)

butter/coconut oil for greasing (i used coconut oil and loved the flavour that it gave my kueh lapis!)

*gotta add a disclaimer here: i skipped all the spices except for cinnamon cos i didn't have the rest at home, and my kueh lapis kinda lacked the actual taste. so DO NOT skip the spices!

1. Sift flour and spices together.

2. Beat butter and condensed milk together till white, then set aside. 

3. Whisk egg whites and baking powder till stiff (at medium speed). Add in sugar while whisking, and egg yolks one at a time, only adding in the next one when the previous has been fully incorporated. 

4. Stir in the vanilla essence (and rum) till well combined.

5. Fold in the butter mixture, followed by the flour mixture till it resembles a curdled pot of cream.

6. Preheat the oven to 200 deg C.

7. Line a baking tin with grease paper, and grease with a bit of butter/coconut oil.

8. Spread a thin layer of batter (suggested 100g for the first layer) onto the base of the baking tin. Bake  on the lowest rack in the oven for 7-8min or until lightly golden brown.

9. Remove the tin from the oven and brush the cooked layer with a bit of butter/coconut oil.

10. Flatten the cake slightly and prick all over with a toothpick.

11. Spread on the next layer (suggested 60-80g for subsequent layers) and bake for 7-8min or till lightly golden brown.

10. Repeat steps 9-11 with the remaining batter.

11. For the last last layer, turn the oven down to 180 deg C and bake on the middle rack for 15min till golden brown. 

12. Remove from the oven and separate the kueh lapis from the baking tin.

13. Turn the kueh lapis onto a surface to cool and remove the grease paper. 

14. Cut into slices and serve. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!

it's two more hours to the New Year!!! here are just some photos from the last week to round up the end of 2013 (:

look who's back in time for 2014!!! :))))) so happy to have my darling boy back! ^^ these three weeks without him seemed to pass reaaaaally slowly, but it only just made me treasure our relationship even more :') it has been a pretty crazy year year for us - going on exchange together was quite an experience :p but I'm really thankful for everything cos I think we've turned out much better after that <3

had the Glitter & Glamour Masquerade Tea Party with my favourite girls just over the weekend! ^^ hehe sounds like a pretty complicated theme aye? :p haha but it was so much fun dressing up and i'm so proud of the table setting which looked like a real tea party! this picture isn't very good, but anyway, it was so much fun! big thanks to the sweet girls who all came over early to help prepare for this! feel kinda bad that they had to do so much work, but really appreciate it! :)

love these gorgeous ladies! :) <3 as you can see, we all put in lots of effort to make sure we fit the Glamour theme of the day. i guess it was pretty funny that we all dressed to the nines to have a tea party at home, but it was really fun!! (: and we should totally do this again (:

isn't the set up so pretty?! :) haha i really like it. so happy that i managed to find all these tea party-worthy props at home! ^^

and for the menu that day, i made Earl Grey Cupcakes and a Maple Bacon Quiche! ^^ super love the flavour of the earl grey cupcakes, which was really punchy!! they could have been more fluffy though. still working on that ;)

Earl Grey Cupcakes
Ingredients:
150ml milk
4 earl grey teabags
150g plain flour
80g caster sugar
1.5 tbsp baking powder
50g unsalted butter
2 eggs
a pinch of salt

1. Gently warm the milk in a pan over moderate heat. Add the earl grey teabags to the milk. When the milk starts bubbling, remove it from the heat. Leave the teabags in the milk to infuse for at least an hour, or at best overnight in the fridge.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees C. Line a cupcake tray with cupcake cases.
3. Stir the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder together in a big bowl. Mix in the butter until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.
4. Strain the teabags from the milk. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg gently. Add the milk to the egg and whisk again gently.
5. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and mix together for a couple of minutes until fully combined.
6. Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases. Bake in pre-heated oven for 20-25min until risen & golden.

Maple-bacon Quiche
Ingredients:
100g bacon
1 small onion, thinly sliced
3 tbsp maple syrup
3 large eggs
200g heavy cream
2 tsp thyme leaves
1 tsp salt

For the crust:
2¼ cup flour
1 tsp sat
1 tsp sugar
150g butter, cut into small pieces
¼ cup water

1. For the crust: Combine flour, salt and sugar. Add butter and mix until mixture is like breadcrumbs. Add water slowly until dough just holds together. Shape dough into a ball, cling wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour to 2 days.
2. On a slightly floured surface, rol out dough. Press it into a quiche pan. Prick bottom with a fork.
3. Preheat oven to 210 deg C. Line dough with parchment and cover with baking weights. Bake for 20min or until edges are just firm. Remove weights and parchment, bake for 20min more or until slightly golden. Let it cool.
4. Reduce oven to 190 deg C. Fry bacon in a pan till crisp. drain on paper towels and let it cool slightly. break into pieces.
5. Heat up oil from bacon. Add onion and cook till translucent. add maple syrup and 1 tbsp water and cook further for 1min. Let it cool slightly.
6. Whisk together eggs, cream, thyme, salt and add onion mixture. Pour into cooled tart shell. Scatter half the bacon on top.
7. Bake quiche till edges of egg mixture just set (15min). Scatter remaining bacon on top and bake for another 20min till puffed and golden brown. Serve (:

another year has just flown by :O how amazingly fast is that. this year has been a rather weird one of sorts. 2012 was a blast for me (sorry the pictures all died on me >.< i think i deleted them accidentally :'( ) and so perhaps this year was much less outstanding in a sense. but i'm still very thankful for opportunities that have come along my way this year. more importantly, always so grateful for the people around me who've encouraged & loved me :')

just wanna share this article i read again recently (thanks SK for reminding me of this article and the other one, and for everything<3). i've actually glanced through it a number of times previously, but i never really understood it till i read it again yesterday. i guess it's especially pertinent to me now, which is why i read through it so thoroughly and made it a point to understand it. and so this is a New Year's Resolution for 2014, which is something i think is finally realistic enough for me to fulfil, though the last part would require some effort, and that's what makes it fulfilling: 

to do things with love, love more, and love everybody :) 

next year is going to be a one with lots of changes and new experiences, and i'm really excited, yet apprehensive at the same time. i really hope it turns out well!! xx wishing everyone an AWESOME 2014! :D

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. 

Housewarming Party (I)

so we're finally all moved in and ready to show our house to people! ^^ haha. it took such an incredibly long time, but really glad that it was a job well done in the end :)) the housewarming we had last week was just one of a string that we'll probably we having. hehe can't wait for my friends to come over! christmas x new year x cny! so many upcoming festivals to celebrated. and i'm so excited :D

well i really wanted to put a video here to show you all the wonderful food we catered, but i can't seem to find a way to embed a video from instagram here! >:( blogger annoys me sometimes really. anyway, if you want to see the video, here's the link! :) it was sooooo good! wish my appetite was good that day so that i could devour everything. but it's alright, i've got a new mission to keep my eating in check. i'm really too greedy already! i didn't know my limits which is why i ended up with a terrible indigestion. shall not let that happen again. no more going to extremes!! :P (i try...)

anyway, we catered from PeraMakan, which is actually a Nyonya restaurant all the way at Keppel Club! we ate there before, and mummy really liked the dry mer siam from there (so do i!) and that's why we decided to cater from there ^^ it was really expensive though! and we totally over-ordered due to the minimum pax requirement. but it was absolutely worth it :D 

despite the fact that we already had excess food, papa still asked me to make more stuff! :P but it was really fun, and i'm glad what i made was well-received by his guests ^^ 

the homemade sangria was AWESOME save for the fact that we didn't have brandy to put in. so i suppose the alcohol content was lower than what it should typically be? haha. anyway, it's really simple! just slice up fruits of your choice (i used apples, oranges, pineapples and peaches), put them in a container, and pour in the wine. i actually mixed different types of wine oops (Carbenet Sauvignon and Shiraz) because we didn't have enough of one kind to fill the container, but it turned out fine, luckily! (i'm seriously one of the most trial-and-error cooks around haha). brandy should be added too, but i didn't have it, so i left that out. leave it to chill for up to 24 hours, for the flavours of the alcohol and fruit to blend into each other! (:

and i also made a cheese platter!! this was the most last minute thing ever, with us going out to buy the ingredients just 2 hours before the guests arrived! but i'm so glad it turned out perfect! :) the best part was how the cheese board even came about - it came together with a purchase of certain types of cheeses! i'm a happy girl now because i've been wanting to buy a cheese board since FOREVER but never knew where i could get one! ^^ it was SO timely. i served brie cheese, cheddar cheese and pepper-spiced cream cheese, together with condiments like dried cranberries, ham, pecan nuts and crackers. simple, and oh-so-yummy :D

and the gorgeous table set-up was thanks to papa's friend who delivered a gift earlier in the day (: it came in super useful after i kinda unassembled the whole thing :P used the container to hold the sangria and the rest of the items inside for the table decor ;) 

Sinful much? Raspberry Cheesecake in a glass + Peanut butter cake in a mug

this post is longggggg overdue and i realised i didn't blog about Sam's birthday at all! >.< too bad that his birthday had to fall in week 10 of school, which was one of my craziest weeks last semester. thank goodness its over. and fortunately or unfortunately it was Sam's busy week as well so we really had to make the most of his birthday celebration! super thankful for that one day in that entire week which i didn't have to go to school (i literally suffered back-to-back meetings for the other days in the week as a result) where we spent a cosy day at home together :') i really wanted to prepare brunch for him actually! i already had this idea since months ago. but it just so happened that I was in the midst of moving house then and the kitchen wasn't ready -.- i was so upset, probably even more so than him! 

but i still wanted to do something special. otherwise it really wouldn't be a birthday celebration, would it? :( we were intending to MUG afterwards somemore. haha hardcore ttm. so...the only "cooking" equipment i had available was a microwave oven, and a fridge. 

so i decided to come up with cakes that didn't need the use of my kitchen!

^^^ presenting my raspberry cheesecake in a glass ^^^ hehe! 

Ingredients:

40g cream cheese
2 tbsp melted butter

1 tbsp honey

zest & juice from one lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract

a large handful of raspberries

6 digestive biscuits, crushed as finely as possible

a dollop of raspberry jam

1. Mix the cream cheese, honey, vanilla extract and lemon juice & zest well.
2. Mix the digestive biscuits with the melted butter to make a slightly sticky combination.

3. Alternate the digestive biscuits and cream cheese mixture in a glass.
4. Top with raspberries and jam, and serve.

^^^ and i made a second cake for him too! ^^^
(pardon the half-eaten mess. wanted to show the inside of the cake)

yay! :) i made this peanut butter cake in a mug so that i could sing happy birthday and blow out a candle for him :)

Ingredients:
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp peanut butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1/8 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp crushed walnuts

1. Melt the butter in a small dish. Add the peanut butter and mix well.
2. In the mug, mix together the vanilla, egg and sugar till well combined.
3. Combine the flour, cocoa and baking powder and add to the mug.
4. Pour in the butter/peanut butter mixture and stir in the walnuts.
5. Pop it into the microwave for about 1min, or longer if you prefer it to be more cooked! (i would say 1min is sufficient though. i did mine for a little more than 1min and it was a tad dry :/)

pretty simple recipes, served in the most ingenious ways ;) each recipe makes a single portion. to my darling: i hope you liked them! ^^

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! (: 

Chocolate raspberry brownie tarts

i'm so glad that my bakes have been turning out pretty well so far! ^^ these little tarts have got to be one of the most adorable things i've baked ;) and they are SO YUMMY. i got the recipe from here! it's pretty simple ^^

Ingredients:

3 bars of Hershey's semi-sweet baking chocolate (113g each)

100g butter

100ml single cream

4 eggs

100g all purpose flour

1 packet raspberries 

1. Preheat the oven to 150 deg C.

2. Melt the chocolate, butter and cream in a medium saucepan over low heat. Stir until melted and smooth.

3. Beat the eggs and flour till well combined.

4. Add the chocolate mixture to the eggs and flour and mix well.

5. Pour into a muffin tin and top with raspberries (as many as you like!!)

6. Bake for 35-40min or until cooked with tested with a skewer. 

7. Allow it to cool and serve.

have i mentioned how i absolutely love how they turned out? ^^

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. 

Portuguese Egg Tarts

food food food ! :D haha my family should totally be feeling super lucky these few weeks by all my cooking x baking ;) quite proud of myself that i've been quite consistently cooking AND baking once a week every week! (: haha takes quite some persistence, but it's really fun!!! ^^ 

i actually wanted to bake normal egg tarts (seems healthier, looking at the ingredients) haha. but i ended up baking portuguese egg tarts last weekend for the sole reason of using up the cream that i'd bought quite sometime back for one of my other recipes. and they turned out soooo yummy! i'm so happy with them! :D except the crust is not really the conventional flaky crust which portuguese egg tarts have. this one was easier to make i guess. i actually combined two separate recipes to make this, and one of the recipes suggested using Betty Crocker/Pillsbury pie crust, so that might be more suitable?

anyway, here's my recipe! ^^

Ingredients:

For the crust -

400g plain flour

1 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp water

3 tbsp butter

For the filling -

4 egg yolks

3 tbsp sugar

100ml cream

100ml milk

1. Preheat the oven to 180 deg C.

2. Mix the ingredients for the crust till it is well blended and forms a dough. Roll the dough into a ball and chill while preparing the filling.

3. Beat the egg yolks, then blend with the rest of the ingredients, making sure it becomes a smooth mixture.

4. Divide the dough into 8 small balls. Flatten them into a muffin/egg tart mould.

5. Fill the pie crust dough with the filling (about 80% full).

6. Bake the portuguese egg tarts for around 30min or until the filling turns slightly brown. Cool & serve.

it's really quite simple, and i'm amazed that they turned out so well!! (: 

Key Lime Pie

yippee! finally one of my baking exploits that turned out to be successful ^^ haha okay not that i had a lot of failed ones, but last's week's attempt at a matcha marble cake was just an ultimate disappointment, and that's always kinda demoralising :( 

which is why i'm so glad that my key lime pie turned out so yummy this time, and i'm posting it immediately :D hehe. *slurrrrrps*

i'm just really bad at making my food look pretty though, so maybe it doesn't look awesome. but the taste is great ;) super unhealthy though :P but TOTALLY worth the calories. i was drooling while making the pie crust because the digestive biscuits smelled soooo mouth-watering!!! :D what i love about this recipe is its simplicity. it's definitely one of the easiest things i've ever made! only two steps!

Ingredients:

300g digestive biscuits

150g butter, melted

397g can of condensed milk

3 medium egg yolks

finely grated zest and juice of 6 limes 

1. Heat the oven to 160 deg C. Place the digestive biscuits in a ziplock bag and use a rolling pin to pound them to crumbs. Mix with the melted butter and press into the base and up the sides of a tart tin. Bake in the oven for 10min. Remove and cool.

2. Put the egg yolks in a large bowl and whisk them. Add the condensed milk and whisk again for 3 minutes, add the zest and juice and whisk for another 3 minutes. Pour the filling into the cooled base and pop it back into the oven for 15 minutes. Remove, allow it to cool, then chill for at least 3 hours before serving.

a piece of pie for anyone? (: 

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.