Pesto Spaghetti

Recipe:
Gluten free spaghetti (wheat-free spaghetti)
2 cups fresh basil leaves (before blend) - about one whole bunch of basil leaves
1/2 cup pine nuts (toasted)
1/2 cup olive oil
3 cube cheddar cheese (shredded)
2 cloves garlic
1.5 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 organic tomato (cut into 8 slices)

(1) In a large deep skillet, bring some water to boil. Add in 1 tsp olive oil and put in some spaghetti to boil. Once done, drain the pasta over cold water and set aside. Reserve some cooking water for tossing later.

(2) Using a food processor, blend pine nuts with garlic till coarsely grinded. Add in basil leaves and olive oil, and continue to blend till a green paste is formed. Lastly, add 2 cubes of cheese and black pepper and blend together.

(3) Toss the pasta with some pesto (add in 1 Tbsp at a time) and add the reserved water kept earlier necessarily (a little at a time) till saucy. Top with fresh tomato slices and extra shredded cheese. Serve immediately.

Made 3 servings

Results : This is a very delicious, simple and fresh meal. I never thought that pasta sauce could be taken raw, and after making this only i realised this is what we eat at restaurant normally ! Therefore, i would like to experiment further with other types of greens in the future.

Adapted from: http://www.foodiecrush.com/2013/08/pesto-pasta-recipe/

Curry puff in rice cooker

Recipe:

Puff Dough -
200g all purpose flour
65g unsalted butter
60ml warm water

Mix all using 'dough' function in a breadmaker for 15-20 minutes. Scrape down the sides using a silicon spoon necessarily. Once done, hand knead for few minutes till a smooth dough is formed. Set aside in fridge for 30 minutes.

Potato Fillings -
1 small piece yellow sweet potato (cubed)
1/2 small piece of carrot (cubed)
1/2 yellow onion (finely chopped)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1 kampung egg
Handful of chopped broccoli
3 curry leaves
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1/8 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 Tbsp turmeric powder
1 Tbsp sesame seeds
1 egg white (for brushing)

(1) Pre-steamed potato and carrot for 8 minutes and broccoli for 5 minutes. Set aside.

(2) Steamed or boiled egg into hard boiled egg. Removed shell and sliced into smaller portion, each piece included yolk.

(3) In a small bowl, mix curry powder, cumin powder, cinnamon powder and turmeric powder with 3-4 Tbsp of water. Set aside.

(4) Heat up cooking pan with some vco, stir-fry garlic and onion till fragrant. Add in powder mixture. Add some water if necessary. Add in curry leaves and stir-fry.

(5) Add in potato and carrot and mix and fry with all ingredients. Add some water if necessary (a little at a time). The filling should look soft and thick. Roughly press the potato and carrot. Once done, dish out immediately and let it cools at room temperature.

(6) Mash up broccoli using a fork and toss into the fillings.


To wrap the fillings with dough, get ready a working top. Take out the dough from the fridge. Divide the dough into 2. Keep one in cling wrap back to fridge.

(1) Rough the dough into a thin, flat rectangle shape. Roll up into a swiss roll shape. Roll back the dough flat, and roll into swiss roll shape (thicker this time) for second time.

(2) Divide and cut the dough using a dough cutter into 5 portions. Roll flat into a round shape wrapper, put on curry puff mold, press the side and make sure it is on the edge or exceeeded the edge slightly. (note - if the circular dough too small, the mold will not be able to seal and close up the curry puff.)

(3) Scope the fillings to one side of the mold, put one slice of hard-boiled egg and seal it up using the curry puff mold. Make sure the puff is sealed all round.

(4) Brush some egg white around the puff and sprinkle some sesame seeds on the both sides of the skins. Put the curry puffs into breadmaker pan, set to baking mode and bake for 15 minutes.

(5) Press 'stop' button and flip the curry puffs to the other side, and continue to bake for another 15 minutes or till it looked brown and cooked.

Yields: 5 curry puffs (extra dough can make another 5 puffs with additional fillings)

Pandan Chicken in rice cooker

Recipe:

2 pieces chicken thigh -
Rub the chicken with 1 Tbsp vco and marinate with the following blended ingredients :
2 knob ginger (sliced)
2 shallots (sliced)
3 cloves garlic (chopped)
4 lemon grass (trimmed off and finely cut)
lemon juice (from 1/4 part of lemon)

1.5 cup rice (ratio of rice: water is 1:1)
6 pandan leaves (top and bottom trimmed)
1 lemon grass (trimmed and crushed)

(1) Marinate the chicken thigh with ingredients listed for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

(2) Wrapped the marinated chicken with pandan leaves.

(3) Prepare water and rice, put in the rice cooker. Put in lemon grass and chicken wrapped in pandan leaves. Press cooking mode and cook accordingly.

(4) Once done, remove pandan chicken from rice cooker, cut the pandan leaves (from top) using scissors and serve accordingly.

Purple Carrot Man Tou

Recipe:

Plain Dough
250g flour (i used 200g pau flour + 40g cake flour + 10g wheat bran)
150ml liquid (i used 110ml warm water + 40ml natural yogurt)
1 tsp natural active instant yeast
1 tsp molasses sugar
*extra flour for dusting
*some olive oil for greasing

Purple Carrot Dough
200g pau flour
100ml warm water
1 tsp natural active instant yeast
1 tsp molasses sugar
60g purple carrot (presteamed & mashed)
*extra flour for dusting
*some olive oil for greasing

(1) Put the ingredients in a breadmaker and knead for 15-20 minutes, separately for the plain dough and purple carrot dough.

(2) Rub some oil around and let both doughs proof for 1 hour.

(3)  Divide both doughs into 2 portions. Start rolling 1 set, plain dough first into flat, thin square shape. Then purple dough. Brush some water on plain dough and put purple dough on top. Repeat for the other set.

(4) Tightly hold, roll both dough together into a swiss roll shape and seal the end with some water.

(5) Divide and cut into smaller pieces starting from the middle. Grease some oil at the bottom of each man tou and lay on greased paper.

(6) Put the man tou in steamer, and leave to proof for 15 minutes.

(7) Start steaming from normal temperature water for 15 minutes. Once done, wait for 1-2 minutes before tilted the lid slightly. After another 2 minutes, remove man tou from steamer and serve immediately. (I normally dish out only man tou to be consumed, and leave the rest in the steamer with the lid slightly tilted off)


Note: To keep unfinished man tou, let the man tou fully cool at room temperature and freeze for up to 1 month in freezer.

Steamed mini vegetables egg

Recipe:

2 kampung eggs (lightly beaten)
2 Tbsp natural yogurt
1 tsp vco
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 button mushroom (finely cut)
1/4 carrot (finely diced)
1 shallot (finely diced)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1/8 yellow bell pepper (finely diced)
1 stalk mustard leave (finely chopped)

(1) Mix everything together in a bowl.

(2) Pour into silicon mini mould, fill up about 80% of the mixture.

(3) Steam for 8-10 minutes or till cooked.

Results: With mini bite size, this is an easy egg meal without much mess when baby is eating and a good way to introduce vegetables in a subtle manner.

Tofu and Wakame Miso Soup

Recipe:
3-4 cups water
1 Tbsp organic dried wakame (presoaked in water till soft, drained)
2 shitake mushrooms
1 Tbsp organic miso
1 cup silken tofu / firm tofu (cubed)

Wakame preparation : If using small pieces wakame, soaking time will be short and do not require cutting. If using big pieces wakame, soaking time will be longer, and right after soaking will need to cut into smaller pieces before putting them to cook.

(1) In a saucepan, bring water to boil. Add in wakame and mushrooms. Cook the ingredients till soft. Once it looks soft, put to simmer for few minutes.

(2) In a very low temperature, stir in miso and tofu, reheat slightly but do not boil. Off fire and serve immediately.

Makes 3-4 servings

Other variations that i have tried making are as followed:

(A)
water
fried tofu (cubed)
organic dried wakame
organic miso

(B)
water
egg (lightly beaten and pour into the soup)
organic dried wakame
organic miso

Steamed butter cake

Recipe:

1/2 cup cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
75g unsalted butter (melted)
2 eggs (beaten)
1 tsp molasses sugar
1/8 tsp vanilla essence

(1) Beat eggs till foamy. Add in sugar and whisk till dissolve. Add in vanilla essence. Add in butter and mix well.

(2) Pour into flour and baking powder mixture. Fold till just nicely mix.

(3) Steam in preheated steamer for 15 minutes.

Made 4 cupcakes.

Results: This recipe yielded very soft and fluffy butter cupcake which i have been dreaming for. The reason is because of the low sugar content and using steaming method - which is much more suitable for my baby. The taste is a bit eggy and not suitable to keep for long, advisable to finish within a day or two.

Mushroom butter rice sushi roll

Recipe:
2/3 cup rice (ratio of rice: water is 1:1)
4 shitake mushroom (thinly sliced)
1 small piece chicken fillet (sliced, marinated with lemon juice and minced old ginger)
1 stalk celery (diagonally cut)
2 stalk japanese mustard leaves (chopped)
5-6 sliced carrot (diced)
1 small piece yellow sweet potato (cubed)
1 small slice yellow bell pepper (diced)
1 stalk spring onion (finely chopped)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1 shallot (sliced)

(1) Put rice and water in rice cooker. Put in the rest of the ingredients on top, and set to cooking mode.

(2) Once done, let stand to cool a little while.

(3) Scope some cooked rice with ingredients on sushi nori and roll it up. Cut into small pieces of sushi. Serve immediately.

Yields : 2 adults portion

Pumpkin fried rice

Recipe:

1 small piece pumpkin (cubed)
1 small piece yellow sweet potatoes (cubed and steamed)
handful of shimeiji mushroom
1 egg (beaten and pan fried)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1 shallots (sliced)
2 stalks japanese mustard leaves (chopped)

Chicken rice in rice cooker, using tomato rice method

Recipe:
1.5 cup rice (ratio of rice:water is 1:0.8)
2 chicken wings part
3 small lemon grass
1 pandan leave
3 medium shallots
1 big piece of ginger (cut into 1 small knob, balance cut into slices)
4-5 cloves garlic
some sesame oil
some onion flakes powder
orange juice (from quarter of orange)
1 large organic tomato

(1) Marinate the chicken wings with orange juice, sesame oil, ginger slices and onion powder for at least 1 hour. Set aside.

(2) Put rice and water in the rice cooker bowl. Put tomato in the middle. Arrange the rest of the ingredients accordingly. (refer picture)

(3) Put to cooking mode. Once cook, remove ginger slices, lemon grass and pandan leaves. Stir well before dish out.

Made 2 adults portion.

Results: This is so delicious that i would make it again and again !

Stir-fry vegetables chicken, spinach yee mee

Recipe:

1 portion spinach yee mee (soaked in filtered water for 5 minutes and drained)
1 small piece chicken fillet (sliced and marinated with lemon juice)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1/2 yellow onion (quartered)
2 fresh button mushrooms (sliced)
some red pepper (sliced)
some yellow pepper (sliced)
5-6 slices carrot (halved)
some bean sprouts (tip removed)
some cabbages (roughly chopped)
1/2 stalk celery (thinly sliced diagonally)
1/2 cup homemade soup stock (i used black bean soup)

(1) Heat up some vco on a cooking pan, saute garlic and onion till fragrant.

(2) In sequence, saute chicken slices, mushroom, cabbage, celery, red pepper, yellow pepper and carrot. Add in soup stock and bring to boil.

(3) Pour in yee mee and mix well. Stir fry for a short while. Pour in bean sprouts and stir fry till soft. Off fire and serve immediately.

Made 2 small adults portion.

Sweet potato man tou

Recipe:

200g pau flour
100ml warm water
1 tsp instant active yeast
1 tsp molasses sugar
1 small piece orange sweet potato (steamed and mashed, remove excess water)
1 tsp olive oil (for brushing

(1) In a bowl, put 20ml of water and add in yeast and stir till all mix. Shortly after, add in sugar and let stand for 10 minutes. It should turn frothy.

(2) Prepare sifted flour in a mixing bowl. Add in balance of 80ml water, sweet potato and the yeast mixture. Use a chopstick to mix it.

(3) Start to knead till a soft dough is formed - around 10 minutes. Knead longer if still not soft and smooth.

(4) Make into a ball shape, rub with some oil. Put in the mixing bowl, cover with a kitchen towel and let it proof for 1 hour.

(5) Punch down the dough and knead for few minutes. Form a long log, divide and cut using a dough cutter, start from the middle. Shape the dough into any preferred form.

(6) Rub some oil at the bottom of each dough and put on piece of baking paper. Transfer the dough into a steamer, cover and let the dough proof for another 15 minutes.

(7) Steam in preheated steamer for 15 minutes.

Made about 12 - 16 man tou depending on size

Curry vegetables fish head

Recipe:

1 garoupa fish head
1 Tbsp curry powder for fish
1 Tbsp turmeric powder
5 long beans (cut into 2 inches length)
handful of cabbages (roughly tear)
1/2 red pepper (sliced)
1 big tomato (quartered)
1 Tbsp natural yogurt
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
About 900ml of water

Paste -
1 stalk lemon grass (thinly sliced)
10 shallots
4 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp dried shrimp

(1) Marinate fish head with turmeric powder for at least 1 hour. Set aside.

(2) To make the paste, grind lemon grass, shallots, garlic and dried shrimp together. I used mortar and pestle.

(3) Using a slight deep cooking pan, heat up some oil and fry the paste till fragrant. Add in water and curry powder and bring it to boil.

(4) Add in fish head, boil for a while. Add in vegetables and cook till all soft. Once the curry looks slightly thicker, lower the temperature and simmer for 20 minutes.

(5) Once done, off fire and stir in yogurt and apple cider vinegar for extra flavour. Serve immediately.

Cauliflower bites

Recipe:

2 cup cauliflowers (presteamed and finely chopped0
2 stalks fresh parsley (finely chopped)
1 cube cheddar cheese (shredded)
1/2 red onion (finely chopped)
1/2 cup homemade breadcrumbs
1 egg + 1 egg white only (beaten)

(1) Remove excess water from cauliflowers or parsley (if any). Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl and shaped it.

(2) Heat up some olive oil on a frying pan, and pan fry till brown or cooked.

Made about 20 mini bites.

Source: www.skinnytaste.com

Overnight oats with avocado topping

Recipe:

10 Tbsp farm fresh natural yogurt
2 Tbsp organic muesli
2 Tbsp organic rolled oats
1 Tbsp organic green raisins
1 tsp organic chia seeds
1/2 avocado (cubed)

Mix everything in a glass jar and put in fridge overnight except for avocado. Top with avocado right before serve.

Pandan oats bun in rice cooker

Recipe:
1/3 cup pandan water
1 tsp rolled oats soaked in 1/4 cup of water
1 tsp instant yeast
1 tsp molasses sugar
2/3 cup bread flour
2 Tbsp cake flour
1 Tbsp blended rolled oats
1/2 egg beaten
1 Tbsp olive oil

(1) In a bowl, put in pandan water. Add in yeast and sugar and let stand for 10 minutes, it should look frothy.

(2) In a mixing bowl, mix flour and oats together. Pour in yeast mixture, egg and oil and begin to knead till a soft dough is formed - around 10 minutes.

(3) Divide the dough into 4 portions and make into balls shape. Spray some oil on the rice cooker bowl and transfer the balls dough into the rice cooker bowl - with around 1 inch gap. Cover and let it proof for 15 minutes.

(4) In a separate bowl, roughly mix some soaked oats (only the oats) into the beaten eggs. Open rice cooker lid, and brush the eggs and oats mixture onto the doughs. Using baking mode or cooking mode, bake for 20 minutes or till it cooked.

Yields: 4 buns