Pizza

Friday night...what's for dinner? What's quick and easy and something that my family would like to eat? PIZZA! I think here in LI, people seem to go for pizza on Fridays, not sure if that's the case but based on my observation, it sure seemed like it.

Half Meatballs, Half Regular

Bro and I were out at the Outlets for a few hours and by the time we got home, it was quite late to make the pizza dough and wait for it to proof. I remember seeing this recipe for a dough on Allrecipes.com that didn't require any proofing, so, since I am short of time, I decided to try it out. 

Basically, it's flour, salt, sugar, yeast, oil and water. I have decided to make it a little healthier and substituted half the flour with whole wheat flour, added some dried basil, dried oregano, parmesan cheese, garlic powder to the dough to make it more flavorful. 

After I am done with the dough, I brushed it with some olive oil, top with some spaghetti sauce (that's what I have in the house), put some meat balls and top it with some Mexican blend of cheeses (made do with what I have) and put it in the oven. EASY!

The pizza turned out good, according to the testers. :) 

Dinner accomplished!

Cream Cheese Loaf

My parents have been here with us for more than a month now and I have been baking and cooking quite a bit but haven't been able to post any of them. 

Today, I would like to introduce you to my fav loaf of bread, the Cream Cheese Loaf. I have made this bread 4 times since my parents got here and love the smell and texture of it. It's soft and the crust isn't too thick since I baked it in the oven instead of the bread machine. 

The Perfect Loaf

Got this recipe from Blessed Homemaker and she uses the bread machine to make the loaf. I used the bread machine to knead it, then, let it rise in the machine (power off) and then, took it out, roll it and let it proof the second time and bake it in the oven. The bread smells so nice and texture is just nice for us, who are used to light and soft textured bread. 

Soft and White

I love to have my slice of bread with some pork/chicken floss. Growing up, before the famous Floss Buns were introduced by Bread Talk, we spread our slice of bread with some butter and top it with pork floss, it's so yummy. And I have been doing it with this loaf of bread in the mornings for breakfast. Even ate it with some sambal ikan bilis, just yummy. In fact, you can eat this loaf with anything that you like and it will be good. 

This loaf can keep for a few days...which is perfect for us. 

Almond Crisps

Back in my Singapore days, during the CNY season, my colleague will start selling goodies that her Aunt made and one of my favourites was these Almond Crisps. They were very addictive and you just want to eat and eat. But they were on the pricey side since they were made of Almonds, and lots of them.

It's been years since I had it and I finally found the recipe for it under Aunty Lily's blog, I couldn't be happier. Finally, I found it and I had to make it. I have tried making it a few times, results were inconsistent. The recipe calls for very few ingredients and easy steps....BUT...the big BUT, you need to spread it evenly on a thin layer and you need to know your oven. My oven is hotter and usually takes shorter time than what recipes called for.

After a long break from making this....reason, coz it uses only egg whites and I don't know what to do with all the eggs yolks!! I have decided that it's time for another batch since I bought a whole bag of almonds too.

Ok, everything was easy (check out Aunty Lily's blog for the recipe and many many more wonderful recipes) except the spreading part and the baking part. My oven is hotter and very uneven and my spreading wasn't even too (never seemed to get it right). You can see from the picture how uneven it was BUT they were still crispy and yummy-licious. After taking them out of the oven, let it cool and break them into random pieces. I assure you, one pc of this is never enough, very addictive. 

Korean Hot and Spicy Rice Cake

Ever since I have been to Korea, I have wanted to eat this again but never had the opportunity to go back to Korea again and have no idea how to make it till I saw this video by Maangchi. I realized that making it is really not difficult. In fact, it's quick and easy (which is what I like), and it takes only a few ingredients (like this even more).

Korean Hot Pepper paste and Rice Cake

Again, I improvised since I don't have the Korean rice cake and green onions nor their anchovies. I used ikan bilis, fried them before putting them in the water to boil. Then, added the Korean hot pepper paste (got this from the HK market just so I can make this dish), sugar, a little salt, cilantro and fried shallots to add more taste to the  hot pepper sauce. I used Chinese rice cake for hot pot instead of Korean rice cake and after the dish is done, sprinkled some roasted sesame seeds on it.

End product. 

Don't you think they look like chee cheong fun? Hmmm..thinking of that right now, might be time for me to make some chee cheong fun too. Anyway, these rice cakes were fantastic.

Enjoy.

Pandan Bread with Nutella

I don't really like to eat loaf bread, to me, the feel is different. I rather eat a bun than a slice of bread. And by making buns, it meant I don't have to slice, which I don't really do good at, always uneven.

Pandan buns with Nutella inside. 

Pandan (screwpine leaves) is commonly used in Malaysia and Singapore, but here, I have to depend on pandan paste. I finally bought a bottle some time ago and have been thinking of things to make with it. Again, it's a challenge since nobody in my household really eat the Asian food that I make. K eats some but not much, hence, I have to make something that I think they will eat or help me finish.

A while ago, I made some pandan buns with nutella inside hoping that my little girl would eat it and to my surprise, she liked it even though they were green in color. We figured out that my girl won't eat anything green as she won't eat vegetables and won't even eat Gold Fish that's green.

This is how it looks in a pie pan. 

Decided to make another batch of pandan buns since I have not made any bread for a couple of weeks now. I have adapted the recipe from Happy Home Baking and made them into tiny tiny loaves, added some nutella/choc chips inside (this is to entice my girl to eat them) and instead of putting them in the normal baking pan, I had them in the pie pan, turned out pretty nice actually.

As for the texture, it's light and soft...love it! I grew up eating soft bread and I prefer them to the heavier bread that we get here in the States.

The pandan taste was pretty subtle but it's good enough. Definitely gave this bread a nice green. 

You can even see the nutella/chocolate oozing out in the pic....yummy yum yum. I think the nutella/ chocolate compliments the pandan pretty well.

And if you are wondering, the middle ones have no chocolate in them, I sprinkled some almonds flakes and sugar on them, they tasted good too.

Enjoy.

Simple Laksa

What do you do when you don't have what you need readily available? You improvise! That's what I did tonight for my laksa. In this part of the world, Asian ingredients and spices are not that accessible, so, I used what I have in my fridge and pantry to make this easy one pot meal (yes, I love one pot meals).

What are the ingredients used? Below is the list...I don't have exact measurements to them, sorry..that's how I cook, based on 'agak-ration' (eyeballing).

For soup:
Garlic
Shallots
Dried shrimps
Sambal oelek
Ground Coriander (pinch)
Dried Lemon grass (fresh is not avail here or hard to find)
Santan (coconut milk)
Water

Added Shrimp, fish cake and tau pok to the soup...oh, don't forget the greens - Cilantro! I like adding cilantro to almost everything I make if I have them on hand.

And lastly, cooked some yellow noodles and voila....a nice hot and spicy bowl of Laksa for my enjoyment.

Again..simple...quick....yet so satisfying.

Tom Yam Fish and Yu Cai

It's another quick and easy dinner tonight. After getting home from work, I get in the kitchen and made dinner for the kids and then, it's time to think about what the adults will eat for dinner. Tonight, I have decided that we will have steamed Tom Yam fish and Yu Cai for dinner. I have bought a whole bunch of green vegetables when I went shopping over the weekend, so, have to eat as much as possible before they go bad.

Ok, Tom Yam fish.....I love making it...it's so easy yet so tasty. Think of Tom Yam soup, what do you have in it? You can add these ingredients with the fish. It's usually onions for me if I don't have anything else to add. But tonight, it's onions and green beans. Would have added tomatoes too if I have them, mushrooms, and ladies fingers (think curry fish head). If you like it sour, you can add a splash of lemon juice when done.

Ingredients: Fish, Tom Yam Paste, Onion and Vegs.  

How simple is simple? Well, put your fish on an aluminium foil that is big enough to close up completely after  all the ingredients are in. You will have to fold up the corners of the foil. Surround your fish with the vegetables that you want to add, and add Tom Yam paste that has been mixed with water. Fold the aluminium foil to make a packet and steam it in the oven till fish is cook. I used the toaster oven and it worked just fine. See picture below for final product. I was so eager to take a picture and eat that I forgot to add cilantro for better taste and garnish. Sorry if the pic doesn't look too appetizing but I assure you, it tasted real good.

On the side, I made Yu Cai with oyster sauce. I made some fried garlic to go with it and for you who's interested in the short cut way of frying garlic, use the microwave. It uses less oil and done quick. Chop up your garlic, put them in a glass bowl and pour enough oil just to cover them. Put it in the microwave oven and nuke it for 60 secs....swirl the bowl a little to distribute the heat.....microwave again for 30 secs...check/swirl...and if they are still not brown, do it for another 30 secs. Took me 1.5 mins to get my 2 cloves of garlic done.

And for the Yu Cai, blanch them in a pot of boiling water for a few mins. I like my vegetables a little crunchy and not overcooked. I put the stems in first to cook as they take a little longer. After they are cooked, take them out, put some oyster sauce on it and drizzle the fried garlic and oil on top. I added fried shallots too.

A bowl of white rice was served with the fish and vegetables. Overall, a wholesome meal, all done in about 30 mins or less.