Meatloaf

I made this today for dinner and it was a hit with my family. The meatloaf was moist and flavorful. This is surely going to make a comeback often to my dinner table. Meatloafs are a versatile dish. Eaten with mashed potato, herbed n buttered rice or just some good ol pasta on the side.  One of my favorite dish.

Source : All recipes

Ingredients

1 1/2 Ib ground beef
1 egg
1 tsp worchestershire sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 onion, chopped
1 cup dried bread crumbs
1/2 cup milk
Salt and Pepper to taste

Topping
4 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp mustard

It looks pink inside because of the lighting :)

Method

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a bowl, combine beef, egg, worchestershire sauce, garlic and onion powder, cubed onion, bread crumbs, milk and seasoning. Mix and shape into a loaf and place in a baking dish.
• In a seperate bowl, combine the ketchup, brown sugar and mustard. Mix well and spread over the meatloaf.
• Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour.

Chicken Madeira

I always have this whenever I go out with my girlfriend to the Cheesecake Factory.  Although this dish is usually served with asparagus, I did not feel like going out in the cold to just buy the asparagus so I opted to use steamed broccoli.  The sauce itself is sweet and nice with a hint of reduced Madeira wine. Usually the sauce is little brown but i just added some cream of mushroom since the kids could taste the wine and was complaining about it. Otherwise I would be making this often....such a delightful dish.

Ingredients


4-6  pieces of split boneless chicken breasts, pounded thin
1/2 cup of cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
4-5 tablespoons of butter
1/4 cup of olive oil
12 ounces of  mushrooms, sliced
2  cups of Madeira wine
1  cup beef broth
8 ounces of mozzarella, sliced
1 tablespoon of water
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

• Split chicken breasts in half, put into a plastic bag and use a mallet to pound the breasts. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large frying pan or saute pan.  In a shallow dish, mix together 1/2 cup cornstarch, 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.  Dredge the chicken in the mixture and  cook the chicken in batches until brown and cooked through.  Dish out and set aside.
• To the same pan, add mushrooms.  If the pan is very dry, add another 1 tablespoon of butter.  Cook the mushrooms over medium heat for about 8 minutes or until the mushrooms are tender, scraping up brown bits from the bottom of the pan and stirring occasionally.
• Add wine to the pan with mushrooms and bring to a boil. Add beef broth.  Simmer for ten minutes, stirring occasionally. At this point if sauce is too watery, add some cornstarch mixed with water to thicken sauce.
• While the sauce is cooking, top chicken pieces with slices of mozzarella.  Heat in oven for about 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the chicken is heated through.  
• When the chicken is done, remove to a plate and serve topped with wine/mushroom sauce.  A big scoop of mashed potato and asparagus. ( In my case, I used broccoli) 

Cheese Spinach Swirl

Made these for my church gathering.  It is really quite fast to put together when you need a quick potluck idea.   Everyone enjoyed it since it was savory. Even children who never eat spinach, ate it all up !

Ingredients

1 egg
1 tbsp. water
1/2 cup shredded Muenster cheese/cheddar cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 green onion, chopped (about 2 tablespoons)
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp onion powder
All-purpose flour
1/2 of a 17.3-ounce package Pepperidge Farm® Puff Pastry Sheets (1 sheet), thawed
1 pkg. (about 10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained

Method

• Heat the oven to 400°F.  Beat the egg and water in a small bowl with a fork.
• Stir the Muenster cheese, Parmesan cheese, onion and garlic powder in a medium bowl.
• Sprinkle the flour on the work surface.  Unfold the pastry sheet on the work surface.  Brush the pastry sheet with the egg mixture.  Top with the cheese mixture and spinach.  Starting at a short side, roll up like a jelly roll. Cut into about 20 (1/2-inch) slices.  Place the slices, cut-side down, onto 2 baking sheets.  Brush the slices with the egg mixture.
• Bake for 15 minutes or until the pastries are golden brown.  Remove the pastries from the baking sheets and let cool on wire racks for 10 minutes.
• For best results, make sure to remove as much liquid as you can from the spinach before adding it to the pastry. If it's too wet, it may make the pastry soggy.
• For Pesto Swirls, omit all ingredients but the flour and the puff pastry.  Unfold the pastry sheet as directed above.  Spread 1/2 of an 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened, on the pastry sheet to within 1/2 inch of the edge.  Top with 3 tablespoons pesto sauce and sprinkle with 1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts.  Brush the edge of the pastry sheet with water.  Roll up the pastry and proceed as directed above.
• For Ham & Broccoli Swirls, omit the spinach, cheeses, onion and garlic powder.  Unfold the pastry sheet and brush with the egg mixture as directed above.  Spread 1/2 of an 8-ounce container whipped cream cheese with chives on the pastry sheet.  Top with 1 cup frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and well drained and 1 cup finely chopped cooked ham.  Proceed as directed above.

Cake Pops

Tauchu Fish

This dish is cooked by my hubby. He started cooking for us during the weekend and came up with this.  I was pretty amazed. 

The following amount of ingredients is just a basic of what is needed but the taste and flavor is adjusted accordingly.

Ingredients

Fish ( I used Golden Pompret) or spanish mackerel
Lots of fresh ginger sliced in thin strips
1 large bombay onion sliced
1 clove garlic sliced
a hand full of cherry tomatoes
1 large red & green chili sliced (if you don't like it hot just de-seed them, here i only have green chili)
1tsp tauchu/fermented soy (you can get this at china town)
a splash of sweet soy sauce
1/3c of water
1tsp corn starch diluted with 2tsp of water.
1tsp sugar

Note : You don't need any additional salt in this dish as the tauchu is very salty butdo taste your dish and adjust accordingly.

Method

• Season fish with salt then fry them til cooked and tender. set a side.
• Heat a table spoon of oil and saute onion, garlic, ginger, chili, tomatoes until fragrant.
• Then add in tauchu, stir and reduce heat to moderate to low, add in the soy sauce.
• Add in water and corn starch mixture.
• Cook until its simmers and the gravy is slightly thicken. remove from heat then pour the gravy on to the fried fish and ready to serve.

Caillou Birthday Cake

 Made this cake for a friend. Her grandson loves Caillou and Fire Engine. The boy and cat are made with gumpaste. Fire Engine is fondant.  I used buttercream frosting for the cake. I thought that the boy turned out really good.

Chiffon Fresh Fruit Cake

I made this wonderful fluffy vanilla chiffon cake for my baby who turned 18 and requested that he wanted a fruit cake with whipped cream. The outside of the cake is coated with roasted shredded coconut.

Vanilla Chiffon Cake 

Ingredients

5 yolks

30g castor sugar

60g vegetable oil

90ml milk

1 vanilla bean or 1 tbsp pure vanilla

(B)

120g cake flour

(C)

6 whites

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

60g castor sugar

Methods

Scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod. Put the seeds and pod inside the milk. Cook the milk with low heat

till boil. Discard the pod and leave to cool.
Pour egg yolks and sugar in a bowl. Whisk till sugar dissolves.

Add oil, vanilla infused milk into the bowl. Stir well.

Fold in sifted flour and mix till smooth.

In another bowl whisk the egg whites till frothy. Add vinegar then sugar gradually and beat till stiff.

Fold in 1/3 of the whites into the yolk mixture till well incorporate.

Pour the mixed batter into the remaining egg whites bowl. Fold gently till well combine.

Pour into 22cm chiffon mould. Bake at 160C for 45 minutes.

Once cooked remove from oven. Immediately invert and leave to cool. When cake is cold, remove from mould. Frost as desired. I used whipped cream cheese frosting.

Happy Birthday my son....

Cinnamon Roll without Yeast

These truly are a jiffy cinnamon rolls.  I wanted something really fast before my kids got home from school but using yeasted bread dough can take some time so I adapted these quick mix dough and these were amazing.  My girl almost finished everything.  If the cinnamon buns get a little hard the next day, just microwave it for couple of seconds and you will have a soft and fluffy cinnamon bun.

 Ingredients


 1/3 cup butter
 1 cup packed brown sugar
 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

 2 cups all-purpose flour
 2 tablespoons white sugar
 4 teaspoons baking powder
 1 teaspoon salt
 1/4 cup butter, chilled
 1 cup cold milk
 1/3 cup currants

 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
 3 tablespoons milk

Method

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease the bottoms and sides of a 12-cup muffin tin.
Cream 1/3 cup butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon together. Drop 1 teaspoon into each muffin cup. Reserve the remaining mixture.
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in 1/4 cup cold butter until crumbly. Make a well in center, and pour in the milk. Stir to form a soft dough, adding a bit more milk if needed.
Turn the dough out on lightly floured surface. Knead 8 to 10 times. Pat dough into rectangle about 1/3 inch thick and 12 inches long. Spread the remaining cinnamon mixture over dough rectangle. Sprinkle currants over top. Roll up like a jelly roll into a long log. Mark the dough first, to make sure you know where to cut, then cut the log into 12 slices. Place cut-side down in the prepared muffin pan.
Bake in in the preheated oven until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Turn rolls out on a serving tray.
For the glaze, add milk to the confectioners' sugar and stir well, adding more liquid if necessary to make a thin glaze. Drizzle over cinnamon rolls.

Blackberry Muffins

These muffins are indeed to die for.  When I first saw the recipe, it just sounded ordinary but once I made it....my kids went head over heels.  They are super moist and fluffy.  The best part is of course, its just one bowl.  No beater involved. I actually made 2 batches of it with different type of berries.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup milk

Topping

1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup berries ( I jus threw in whatever amount I had )

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a muffin pan with paper liner.  You will need about 8 paper liner.
In a bowl add all the dry ingredients. In another bowl, add the milk, oil and egg.  Whisk slightly.
Stir the liquid into the dry ingredients.  If batter seems too thick, add 2 tbsp of milk.  The batter will be thick. Stir in the berries slowly.

In a clean bowl, add the sugar, flour, cinnamon powder and cubed cold butter.  Mix with fork and sprinkle over muffin before baking.

Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until done.