Memories in the Cooking

French Onion Soup is a quintessential French dish. This soup may not be the favourite soup of my husband and my boys, but it is certainly mine. I love this soup for it is beautifully infused with the aromatic trio - onions, garlic and herbs. The baguette and the melted cheese add heartiness and comfort to the soup. Ingredients: - 3 large red onions and 1 large yellow onions, sliced - 3 cloves of garlic, crushed - 1 baguette, sliced - 1 chicken cube - mixed herbs and pepper - 120g of mozzaella Procedures: 1) Stir fry slice onions until it softens. Add crushed garlic and continue to fry the onions until brown. (I tried oven-bake the onions until brown and it works as well).  2) Add 6 bowls of boiling water. 3) Add chicken cube, herbs and pepper. 4) Scoop soup into ramekins. 5) Add sliced baguette on top of the soup. Top it up with mozzarella cheese. 6) Bake in oven at 180 degree for 15 mins. Sometimes, I am too lazy to scoop the soup into individual ramekins.

Yesterday at a shopping centre, my elder boy went into a bread shop and  saw his favourite garlic bread. Instead of asking me to buy it, he asked me if I could make it for his breakfast the next day. So, his wish was granted this morning. Presenting, simple Homemade Garlic Bread. Ingredients: - 4 cloves of garlic, crushed - 8 slices of bread  - 25 g of unsalted butter, softened - 1 pinch of sea salt  - 1 pinch of italian mixed herbs Procedures: - Mix crushed garlic, butter, sea salt and herbs.  - Spread on bread. - Bake at 180 degree for 5 mins. Serve. 

My husband and I are very intentional in making sure our boys have fond memories of the family. We try to create such memories through home-cooked food and weekend outings. In recent years, Singapore is becoming increasingly vibrant with lots of activities for families. One of our favourite activities is having picnics. Last year, we had picnics at Marina Barrage while flying kites and at Botanic Garden while listening to live concerts.  For picnics, we love to bring hot, non-messy and easy-to-pack food like quiches, lagsanes, pizzas. Today, we are having picnic at the Padang as part of the Light to Night Festival. For this picnic, I am making Hong Kong Pork Chop Baked Cheese Rice.  Ingredients: - 2 pieces of 250g pork loin, sliced  - 4 bowls of rice, refrigerated overnight  - half a cup tomato ketchup  - 1 onion, diced  - 1 clove garlic, crushed - 4 large tomatoes, diced - pineapples, capsicums (optional)  - half a cup of plain flour with 1 teaspoon of bakin

I always have a special liking for green colour food - matcha ice-cream, ondeh ondeh, spinach soup etc. Recently, I toyed with the idea of having a green food party with dishes such as Broccoli Soup, Avocado Dip with Tortila, Caesar Salad, Pesto Pasta, Teriyaki Chicken wrapped in Lettuce Cups, Matcha Ice-cream and my favourite Pandan Chiffon Cake. In preparation for that, I shall practice baking a Pandan Chiffon Cake! Ingredients: - 200g pandan leaf - 200ml coconut milk - 6 eggs - 180g sugar - 55g plain flour - pandan paste - 1 teaspoon cream of tartar - 1 teaspoon baking powder Procedures: 1) Wash and cut pandan leaves into smaller pieces. Place it in a blender. Add coconut milk. Blend. Sieve to get the pandan coconut milk. 2) Separate egg whites from egg yokes. 3) To the egg yokes, add 100ml of the pandan coconut milk. Add 1 teaspoon of pandan paste, plain flour and 1 teaspoon of baking powder. 4) Whisk egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar until soft peaks form

This is a super-easy salmon dish that can be cooked in 20 mins (depending on the size of the fish). The end product is a delicately-soft, cooked-just-right salmon, each bite with stringy mozzrella cheese. My husband loves this dish and it is so easy to please him with it. Ingredients: - 1 slice of salmon fillet or salmon belly  - miso paste  - mozzarella cheese  Procedures: 1) Descale the salmon fillet, dry it and lay in on a baking tray skin-side down.  2) Spread a thin layer of miso paste on the salmon.  3) Add a layer of mozzarella cheese on top of the miso spread.  4) Bake at 180 degree celsius for 20 minutes. Serve. 

My husband is of the opinion that quiche is like "ang mo" version of fried rice. Reason? You could almost add any ingredients to the dish and it would not go wrong. This recipe is an adaptation of Quiche Lorraine with mushrooms added to give the kids a more balanced meal. Speaking of Quiche Lorraine, Nathan used to have a teacher named Lorraine in nursery. Once, his nursery organised a family picnic (called Teddy Bear Picnic) where each parent had to contribute dish. I brought a Quiche Lorraine. I could still vividly remember how Nathan hid his sniggle while repeatedly saying "I am eating Lorraine". Ingredients (2 quiches): - 8 slices of bacon, cut into thin shreds - 250g of brown mushrooms, sliced - 200g of mozzarella cheese - 1 can of Nestle all-purpose cream - milk (as proportion as cream) - 5 eggs - pepper - 1 onion, diced - 1 clove of garlic, crushed - 2 pieces of ready-made short-crust pastry Procedures: 1) Let the bacon fry in its own fat

What are the characteristics of perfectly roasted potatos? In my opinion, it must be crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy in the inside. For this recipe, I aim to raise the bar even further with 2 enhancements. First, I use a variety of potatos - Russel potatos, purple sweet potatos and orange sweet potatos. Second, I enhance the flavour of this dish with truffle oil. That is what I call ULTIMATE! Ingredients: - 2 Russel potatos, deskinned  - 4 purple sweet potatoes, deskinned  - 2 orange sweet potatos, deskinned  - Olive oil - 3/4 teaspoon of sea salt  - black pepper - Truffle oil  Procedures: 1) Boil whole and deskinned potatoes and sweet potatoes until soft.  2) Dry the potatos and sweet potatoes using kitchen towel. Cut into cubes of similar size.  3) Place them on a baking tray. Drizzle olive oil generously on the potato. Add salt and pepper.  4) In the oven, bake at 220 degree at the highest rack for 30 minutes. During the 30 minutes, check

I love chicken and cream-base dishes. Hence, it is not difficult to guess that this dish, Garlic Cream Chicken is one of my favourite dishes, my all-time comfort food. So, on this day, when Singapore is experiencing a record-low temperature, I decided to whip up this dish to provide some comfort from the 'winter' (alright, it is just 22 Degree Celsius). Ingredients: 4-5 chicken thighs 200g brown mushrooms 1 can of all-purpose cream  1 chicken cube 1 tablespoon of paprika  2 bulbs of garlic, sliced Procedures:  1) To a pan, add a little oil and brown chicken thighs, starting with skin-side down. Transfer chicken thighs to a plate.   2) Add sliced garlic to the pan and fry until fragant.  3) Add brown mushrooms and fry for 1 minute.  4) Transfer the browned chicken thighs. Add 1 tablespoon of paprika.  5) Dissolve chicken cube in 1 cup of water. Add the chicken stock to the chicken. Let it simmer for 15-20 minutes until chicken is cooked through. 

Beef Bolognese, another classic dish popular amongst my boys. Good news for the parents - this dish packs a lot of vegetables without the children knowing! It is often a challenge to get my boys to eat a few more pieces of carrots or celery, but they certainly have no problem cleaning a huge portion of Beef Bolognese. Ingredients: - 3 stalks of celery, blended - 1 carrot, blended - 1 onion, blended - 2 tomatoes, diced  - 300g minced beef  - 1 can of tomato paste  - 1 pack of spaghetti - 1 tablespoon of mixed Italian herbs  - 1 beef cube - 2 tablespoons of sugar  - black pepper - parmesan cheese  Procedures: 1) Boil spaghetti in a pot of hot water. 2) Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. Stir fry onions, celery, tomatoes and carrot until soft.  3) Add minced beef and fry until brown.  4) Add tomato paste, mixed Italian herbs, beef cube, pepper and 2 tablespoon of sugar. Add some pasta water if the sauce is too thick. Allow the sauce to simmer for 5

I love to have gatherings at my humble flat rather than the restaurants for a few reasons. First, we need not worry if the venue can accommodate a big group. Second, there are toys to keep the children occupied while the adults catch up. So, on the first day of Year 2018, I had my secondary friends over. We have been friends for more than 2 decades and the group has multipled a few times with spouses and children! At such occasions, I try to focus on the company and keep cooking to the minimum with easy-to-prepare dishes. One such dish is the Caesar Salad.  Ingredients: (Salad) - mixed salad greens (spinach, rocket leaves, alfafa, Romania lettuce etc), washed - cherry tomatos, cut into halves  - canned longans, drain away the syrup  - proteins (hard boiled eggs, smoked duck, smoked salmon etc)  (Dressing) - 4-5 tablespoons of olive oil  - 2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese - 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise - 2 tablespoons of honey mustard - lemon juice from 1 l