Memories in the Cooking

Pinwheel pizza is perfect for a picnic or an on-the-go dinner. It is easy to pack and eat as compared to the traditional pizza. The pinwheel shape also provides some element of novelty. I first made this for my younger son picnic birthday at Marina Barrage. I made it again today for our on-the-go dinner before an Easter musical which started at our usual dinner time at 6.30pm. Our dinner felt pretty substantial with some much flavours and ingredients packed into these fist-size pinwheels. Ingredients: - short crust pastries or puff pastries (store-bought, in sheets) - tomato paste - bacon or ham - mozzarella cheese Procedures: 1) Spread tomato paste on the pastry sheets. 2) Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on the pastry sheets. 3) Add bacon/ham at the end of the sheets. 4) Roll the sheets from one end to form a log. 5) Cut each log into 6. 6) Brush the pastries with oil and top up with more mozzarella cheese. 7) Bake at 180 degree celsius for 20 minutes

I woke up this morning realising that we ran out of breakfast food. I found some glutinous rice flour and crushed peanuts in the fridge. 15 minutes later, there was homemade Muah Chee on the breakfast table. Ingredients: - 150g of glutinous rice flour, sifted - 200g of water - shallot oil - 200g of roasted crushed peanuts - 2 tablespoons of sugar Procedures: 1) Mix glutinous rice flour and water. Mix into a smooth batter. 2) In a pan, add 2 tablespoons of shallot oil. Add batter, stir and work it until it forms a sticky, opaque paste. 3) On a tray, mix the crushed peanuts with sugar. Place the cooked glutinous flour paste. Cut the paste into bite-size and coat every piece with peanut and sugar. Serve.

Mushroom Soup is undoubtedly my sons' favourite soup, even for the younger one who does not like mushrooms. This is a healthy version of Mushroom Soup as it gets its creamy texture from potatos and not cream! However, should you still want to enhance the creaminess of this soup, feel free to add some milk or yogurt. Ingredients: - 500g of swiss brown mushrooms, sliced - 4 russet potatos, diced - 1 onion, diced - 3 cloves of garlic, crushed - 50g of butter - chicken stock -milk/yogurt (optional) Procedures: 1) Melt butter in a saucepan. 2) Add onions and garlic. Stir fry until soft and fragrant 3) Add potatos, followed by mushrooms. Stir fry until slightly soft. 4) Add 2 bowl of chicken stock. Let it simmer. 5) Blend the soup mixture until smooth. 6) Add salt, pepper and mixed Italian herbs. 7) Add milk/yogurt. Serve

Today, I hosted my paternal-side extended family for a lunch gathering at my place. I prepared 7 home-cooked dishes including a few with some level of difficulty- roasted lamb leg and pavlova (see separate posts). Hence, to keep the preparation manageable, I decided to cook a simple carbohydrate dish - butter rice. Surprisely, this simple dish was also one of the most popular dishes. Ingredients: - 200g of butter - 2 bulbs of garlic, crushed - 2 tablespoons of mixed Italian herbs - 1 teaspoon of sea salt - 200g of roasted cashew nuts - 200g of raisins - 4 cups of cooked rice - a sprinkle of tumeric powder  Procedures: 1) Melt butter in a pan. Add garlic, mixed Italian herbs, sea salt to the melted butter. 2) Add cooked rice. Mix well. 3) Add roasted cashew nuts and raisins. Mix well. Serve. My sister loves my butter rice. So, I made it into a cake for her birthday. 

I had always wanted to make Pavlova but simply did not have the confident to do it as I heard that there are many 'opportunities' for failure. However, after seeing my sister-in-law's successful attempts and attending a class on the making of macaroons (which also involves meringue), I finally decided to make it today. I must say it was not too bad for a first attempt. The meringue had a crispy crust and chewy centre. Ingredients: - 5 egg whites (of 60g large eggs) - 1 teaspoon of white vinegar - 1 cup of caster (fine) sugar  - 1 teaspoon of corn starch - 300ml of whipping cream - cut fruits (strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, passion fruit) - 2 tablespoons of icing sugar Procedures: 1) Beat egg whites until soft peaks are formed. Add sugar in batches while continuing to beat the egg whites. Stop when firm peaks are formed. 2) When stiff peaks are formed, stir in corn starch and white vinegar. 3) On a baking paper, mark out the size of meringue. I use my

I have earlier posted the recipe of teriyaki salmon using home-made teriyaki sauce. This post is on the steps to make teriyaki chicken. This dish is well-liked by children - who does not like sweet and juicy chicken? My boys often request for this dish to be prepared for their birthday parties. So, the ingredients in this post is adjusted for 'party portion'  (10-15 persons). Ingredients: - 2 kg boneless chicken thigh meat - half a cup of light soya sauce - half a cup of mirin - half a cup of sake - 2 tablespoons of sugar - grated ginger - seaweed for garnishing Procedures: 1) Marinate chicken with light soya sauce, mirin, sake and grated ginger for 1 hour. 2) Arrange the chicken (without the excess marinating liquid) on an oven tray. Brush the chicken with vegetable oil. 3) Bake it in the oven at 180 degree celsius for 30 minutes. 4) Heat the meat juice and excess marinate with 2 tablespoons of sugar in a saucepan until the sauce thickens. 5) Toss the grille

I first tried this Blue Cheese Dip at a cafe with spicy buffalo wings. This dip also goes well as a salad dressing- with ice-berg lettuce and bacon bits. Ingredients: - 250g Danish blue cheese - 200g sour cream - juice of 1 lemon - pepper - 2 tablespoon of mayonnaise Procedures: 1) Crumble the blue cheese on a mixing bowl. 2) Add sour cream, lemon juice, mayonnaise and pepper. Mix well. 3) Blend the mixture for smooth consistency.

This is a delicious and healthy starter for any parties - Guacamole Dip with Tortilla Chips. Ingredients: - 3 ripe avocados - juice of 1 lemon - 100g of cream cheese - 3 cloves of garlic - salt, pepper - a bag of Tortilla Chips Procedures: 1) Blend all the above ingredients into a smooth and creamy paste. 2) Enjoy it with Tortilla Chips.

Cold sandwiches, no matter how packed with ingredients, do not appeal to me. Being a true-blue Asian, I must have my meals hot in order to be satisfied. So, I hardly settle for a sandwich for lunch even when I visit western countries. Occasionally, when I need to grab a sandwich from Subway, I would always opt for meatball marinara as it is the closest to a satisfying hot meal. When I make meatball marinara sandwich at home, I would play the sneaky mummy who packs a lot of vegetables in the sauce without the children knowing. For this reason, I cannot express enough how thankful I am for food blenders/processors. Ingredients: - 500g minced beef (for 18 meatballs) - 2 tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese  - 3-4 tablespoons of bread crumbs  - mixed Italian herbs  - black pepper  - sea salt  - 4 sticks of celery, diced  - 200g of mushrooms, diced  - 1 large onions, diced  - 1 bulb of garlic  - 2 tomatoes, diced  - 2 eggs  - 1 beef cube  - 1 tablespoon

Alio Olio is ah ma's (my mother) favourite pasta. She demands certain exactness to this dish both from the restaurant chefs and us (amateur homecooks). The pasta must be al dente and seafood must be cooked just right. Every aspect of the dish must be just the way she likes it. Today, I am teaching my new helper this dish so that she can cook for ah ma for weekday lunch. My helper is always appreciative to ah ma for her kindness. So, from her look of seriousness, I could tell she is trying to please ah ma by meeting her high expectations. Ingredients: - 3 capsicums (yellow, red and green), diced - 2 bulbs of garlic, crushed - 1 pack of mixed seafood (can replace with fresh prawns, salmon slices) - 1 chicken cube - 1 pack of spaghetti or linguine - sea salt, mixed herbs, pepper, olive oil - chili padi sliced - grated parmesan cheese Procedures: 1) Boil a pack of spaghetti or linguine until al dente. 2) At the same time, add 4 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan and

Today, we are going to Esplanade for Huayi Chinese Festival of Arts. Last year, we went to the Octoburst Fest and caught 3-4 consecutives performances on a single Saturday evening. However, while we were feeding our senses, our tummies were suffering. As previous performance timings coincided with our dinner time (5-9pm), we had to settle our dinner with only some takeaway bread. This time round, I have decided to pack some Japanese Beef Bowl so that we could have a more substantial meal even on the go. I think we will be the centre of envy amongst the other audiences.  Ingredients (for 5 people):  - 5 tablespoons of mirin - 5 tablespoons of sake - 2 tablespoons of sugar - 4 tablespoons of Japanese light soya sauce - 1 cup of water (or dashi soup) - 2 large onions, sliced - 3 cups of Japanese short grain rice - 400g of Shabu Shabu Beef  - 5 eggs Procedures:  1) Cook Japanese rice according to packet instructions  2) To a pan, add mirin, sake, sugar, light soya sauce