Recipe – Oreo Biscuit Mousse

Here’s an easy dessert that kids adore.

Ingredients:
1 carton of frozen fat-free whipped topping, thawed
1 package of sugar-free instant chocolate pudding mix
Oreo biscuits

Method:
1. Pour whipped topping into a large mixing bowl.
2. Sprinkle the pudding mix into the topping.
3. Stir the mixture with a large spoon until the pudding mix begins to dissolve in the whipped topping.
4. Put the Oreo biscuits into the bowl of a food processor and process the biscuits until they are crumbly.
5. Spoon the mousse into individual parfait glasses. Add the crumbed biscuits on top. Decorate with cherry or strawberry icing.
6. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours before serving.

Happy Cooking 🙂

Recipe – Vietnamese Hot and Sour Soup

One of my favorite Asian food is Vietnamese. Apart from spring rolls, Vietnamese soup is superb.

Ingredients:
1.25 litre of water
2 tablespoons of tamarind paste
12 prawns, shelled and deveined (reserve the prawn shells/heads to make the soup stock)
4 red bird’s eye chillies, sliced
500g tomatoes, cut in fours
2 stalks of elephant ear, peeled and sliced diagonally
200g of bean sprouts
2 slices of fresh pineapple, chopped into bite sized pieces
1 shallot, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, finely diced
½ cup saw tooth coriander, diced
½ cup rice paddy herb, extra for garnishing
2 ½ tablespoon fish sauce
1 ½ tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoon salt

Method
1. Soak 2 tablespoons of tamarind paste in ½ -1 cup of boiling water for 15 minutes until the tamarind is soft and releases its essence. Force the tamarind through a fine sieve into a small bowl so you are just left with the liquid (discard the seeds and other solids).
2. In a pot, add in water, tomatoes, chillies and prawn shells/heads. Bring to boil and then simmer on low heat for 15 minutes, skimming off any foam.
3. Turn off the heat. Remove the prawn shells/heads. Add the pineapple pieces. Let the soup stock sit for 1-2 hours to for the flavours to settle and infuse.
4. Prior to serving the soup, bring it to boil and add seasoning to taste – fish sauce, sugar, salt and 3 ½ tablespoons of the tamarind liquid. Add the bean sprouts and elephant ears. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the vegetables are soft (Do not cover the pot with lid as the vegetables will go brown).
5. Fry the shallots and garlic in a small saucepan with vegetable oil until softened and golden. Add in the fried shallots and garlic into the soup pot. Ladle in some soup into the saucepan, swirl around and add to soup to make sure that you get all of the shallots/garlic.
6. Add prawns into the pot and cook for 1-2 minutes. Stir in saw tooth coriander and rice paddy herb. Taste and add more seasoning (tamarind liquid, fish sauce, sugar or salt) if needed.

Happy cooking 🙂

Recipe – Spicy Eggplant

I care not if eggplants are non-nutritious vegetables… eggplants are vegetables that go well with any spice, making them one of my favorites. I cook eggplants in various ways and spicy eggplants is one of them.

Ingredients:
1 lb eggplant, sliced into 1-inch pieces
1 carrot, cut into strips
1 clove of garlic, crashed
1 small red onion, sliced thinly
1 tablespoon of cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water to make a paste
vegetable oil, for deep-frying

For the Spicy Sauce
2 tablespoons of oyster sauce
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon of white vinegar
1 tablespoon of granulated sugar
1 teaspoon of my chili sauce (see previous post for the recipe)
1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil

Method:
1. In a large frying pan, deep-fry eggplants. Remove eggplant and drain on paper towels.
2. Combine all spicy sauce ingredients and mix well.
3. Saute garlic and onion. Add the spicy sauce. Reduce heat and let sauce simmer 20 seconds.
4. Add eggplant and carrots. Mix well. Simmer for another 10 seconds. Stir in cornstarch paste a little at a time until desired consistency is achieved.
5. Serve warm.

Happy cooking 🙂

Recipe – Chili Sauce

I don’t have a category for chili sauce but I just soooooo love it! I just have to include it in my food blog. Since chili sauce can go well with food from any part of the world, I am adding it here in my International Cuisine category.

Chili sauce is guaranteed to perk up your appetite, so here it goes…

Ingredients:
4 ounces of Chinese dried red peppers
1 1/4 cups of vegetable oil
1 1/3 cups of store-bought broad bean paste

Method:
1. Crush the red peppers in a food processor. Transfer to a large bowl, add water and soak for an hour.
2. Put the soaked red pepper in a large skillet. Include some of the water and cook over high fire stirring occasionally until the water has cooked down completely.
3. Add the vegetable oil. Turn the heat to medium and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring continuously.
4. Add the bean paste; stir to mix well.

Happy Cooking 🙂

Recipe – Heaven Chocolate Chip Cookies

My kids named this snack Heaven Chocolate Chip Cookies. They say that whenever I bake these goodies, the mere smell takes them to heaven. For me, just seeing their eyes glow and seeing their expressive satisfaction brings me to cloud 9 heaven. Thus, these are really Heaven Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups of Pillsbury all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1 cup of melted Anchor butter
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
1 cup of light brown sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups of Nestle semi-sweet chocolate chips

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, mix together the flour and baking soda. Set aside.
2. In a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix the butter and sugar. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low, then add the salt, vanilla and eggs. Beat until well mixed.
3. Add the flour mixture and mix until well combined.
4. Stir in the chocolate chips.
5. Drop tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
6. Bake the cookies for 8 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven and let cool on a baking sheet.

Happy Baking 🙂

Recipe – Mio Pesto Pasta

I am famish! To fill the hunger quickly with a satisfying meal, I made myself a pesto pasta.

Ingredients:
16 ounce of dry pasta
1/4 cup of butter
3 tablespoons of minced garlic
1/4 cup pesto
grated Parmesan cheese

Method:
1. Cook the pasta according to packet direction. Drain the pasta and transfer to a bowl.
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Saute the garlic and pesto in the melted butter.
3. Pour over the pasta and toss to coat.
4. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.

Happy Cooking 🙂

Recipe – Asparagus Chicken wrapped in Mushroom

Today is another day of concocting a yummy viand from ingredients I found in my kitchen. I saw some asparagus that needs to be cooked right away or they will rot. I found some breast chicken and a can of mushroom. This will be yummy in white sauce.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup corn oil
4 skinless boneless chicken breasts
1 pound of fresh asparagus
1 can of mushroom
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup of white wine
1 cup of heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon of salt
ground black pepper to taste

Method:
1. Cut the chicken breasts into 2. Mince the garlic. Heat the corn oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir chicken and garlic until chicken is tender. Stir in the asparagus for a minute. Transfer chicken to a plate. Arrange the asparagus in between the chicken.
2. Pour wine in the skillet and simmer for about 2 minutes.
3. Stir cream into the simmering wine. Reduce heat to low fire and simmer until large bubbles appear.
4. Add the mushroom, Parmesan cheese, salt, and black pepper into the cream mixture.
5. Pour this mixture on top of the chicken and asparagus.

Happy cooking 🙂

Recipe – Penne Beef Stroganoff

Good evening! It’s been 10 days since I last logged in. Well, life pressures kept me from going online but it did not stop me from cooking. In fact, cooking has been one of my medicines to ward off life pressures.

Anyway, tonight I will talk to you about my Penne Beef Stroganoff.

Ingredients:
375 g of penne pasta
1 tablespoon of olive oil
500 g of beef rump steak
1 medium sized red onion
200 g of cup mushroom
200 g of sweet corn
100 g of Baguio beans
2 teaspoons of sweet paprika
1 tablespoon of plain flour
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
1 cup of beef stock
1/4 cup of sour cream

Method:
1. Cook pasta following directions in the packet.
2. Slice the beef thinly. Heat olive oil in a large, deep frying pan over medium heat. Cook the beef for 2 to 3 minutes or until browned. Transfer to a bowl.
3. Slice the onion, mushrooms and Baguio beans. Add onion to pan. Cook, stirring, for 5 to 6 minutes or until softened. Add mushroom, sweet corn and Baguio beans. Cook for 5 minutes or until mushroom and Baguio beans are tender.
4. Return beef to pan. Add paprika and flour. Cook for another minute. Add tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce and beef stock. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to low. Simmer for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened. Remove from heat. Stir in sour cream.
5. Serve warm with the pasta.

Happy cooking 🙂

Recipe – Hokkaido Bun

If you want to surprise your Asian friends with something from back home, you can’t go wrong with Hokkaido, an Asian sweet bread.

Ingredients:
For the bread –
5 cups of bread flour
1/3 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
2 eggs
1 cup of milk
4 teaspoons of instant yeast
6 tablespoons of butter

For the tangzhong-
1/3 cup of bread flour
1 cup of water

Method:
1. To make the tangzhong, combine the bread flour and water. Whisk until the flour is completely dissolved; there should be no lumps. Pour the mixture into a saucepan then turn your stove to medium heat. Stir constantly as the mixture heats up. Cook the tangzhong until the mixture thickens. Remove from the stove and set aside.
2. For the bread, mix the flour, salt, sugar and instant yeast in a bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients then add the milk, egg, and tangzhong. Use the dough hook attachment on your stand mixer; mix on medium speed until the dough comes together. Add the butter and continue kneading until it is a smooth dough (not sticky; it should be elastic).
3. Knead the dough into a ball shape. Grease a large bowl with oil. Place the ball shaped dough into the bowl and let it proof till it doubles in size. Now, split the dough into 4 equal portions. Knead again and form into small balls. You can form your dough into any shape you like (Experts do so many creative shapes from animal forms to flower forms. But let’s stick with the basic for now).
4. Put the rolls into the bread pan. Cover with wet towel and let them rise till they double in size.
5. Before baking, beat an egg. Brush the egg mixture on top of the rolls to create a shiny brown finish when baked.
6. Bake the bread at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes.

Happy baking 🙂

Recipe – Dad’s Pizza

I call this dad’s pizza because I made it extremely simple for dads to follow 😉 (peace dads) and because it is father’s day today. Happy father’s day 🙂

Ingredients:
1 loaf of tasty bread
200 ml of Del Monte Italian style pizza sauce
pepperoni slices
ham, sliced in cubes
green pepper, sliced in small pieces
1 block of Eden quick melt cheese

Method:
1. Spread Del Monte Italian style pizza sauce on top of each tasty bread.
2. Grate a decent amount of cheese on the tasty bread.
3. Add pepperoni slices, ham and green pepper.
4. Put the tasty bread on your toaster (not the pop-up toaster, of course ;)) for about 5 minutes or until the cheese melts and the tasty bread becomes a little bit brown and crunchy. You can even just toast this using your non-stick pan.
6. Serve hot.

Happy cooking 🙂