Creamy Broccoli Soup with Croutons

Ingredients:

Croutons

6 cup Baguette/hard bread, cubed
4 clove garlic, mashed
pinch of salt
2 tbsp chopped/dried parsley
1/3 cup olive oil

Soup

1 large head broccoli, washed, stem removed & roughly cut
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, roughly sliced
2 cup water/stock
1½ tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
150 ml heavy cream
150 ml milk

Garnish

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 handful broccoli
some water for sprinkling
pinch salt
dash black pepper

Method:

To prepare the croutons:

Preheat oven to 200 °C.

In a large mixing bowl, mix bread cubes with all the ingredients and stir well to coat homogeneously.

Spoon onto a baking tray and spread out evenly into single layer.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes and stir occasionally about two times during baking.

Remove from oven and set aside.

To prepare the soup:

In a pot, melt butter in 1 tbsp of oil over medium high heat, saute onion until softened with occasional stirring.

Add-in half of broccoli, and stir for short while.

Pour-in stock and bring to boil.

Reduce heat, cover and let simmer until broccoli is tender.

Add-in the remaining broccoli, cover and simmer for about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and blend it into smooth puree in several batches (depending on the size of your blender).

Transfer into saucepan/pot, season with salt, pepper and garlic powder, then stir in cream and milk over low heat right before serving.

Garnish with sauteed broccoli and serve with croutons.

To prepare the garnish:

In a saucepan, heat oil over moderate high heat and stir-fry broccoli for shot while.

Sprinkle-on some water, reduce heat and seasoning with salt and pepper.

Cook the broccoli accordingly with occasional stirring.

Coffee-Coconut Cupcakes

 

Ingredients:

150 mL sugar
1 egg
75 g (80 mL) cooking oil
2 tsp baking power
2½ tbsp plain flour
125 mL coconut milk
1½  tbsp soluble coffee powder
2 tbsp dessicated coconut powder

Topping

25 g dark chocolate, melted on double boiler
Some chocolate rice
Some dessicated coconut powder

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 °C.

Line 8 foil cupcake molds with a paper mold each; set aside.

Dissolve coffee powder in coconut milk; set aside.

In a deep bowl, beat egg with sugar till thick, pale and fluffy.

Pour-in oil, beat to incorporate.

Sprinkle-on flour and baking powder and fold into homogenous batter.

Stir-in coffee flavored coconut milk and whisk thoroughly to mix.

Stir-in dessicated coconut powder.

Pour batter evenly into the prepared molds, place on baking tray, bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of cake comes out clean.

Remove from oven.

Pour-on pre-melted chocolate on top of each cupcake the sprinkles-on immediately with chocolate rice and coconut powder.

Serves 8.

Summer Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

250g pasta of your choice (bow ties)

1 tsp salt

1/2 green/orange/yellow bell-pepper, cubed

1/2 cup cherry tomatoes

100g mozzarella cheese, cubed

few fresh basil leave

Dressing

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 tbsp oregano powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

Method

In a pot, boil enough water with 1 tsp of salt and cook pasta according to the written instruction on package, stir occasionally.

Drain the cooked pasta and transfer into a big salad bowl.

Mix-in the remaining vegetables and cheese.

Pour-in olive oil and lemon juice then sprinkles-on oregano powder.

Stir well and adjust taste with salt and pepper.

Thai 3 Flavours Fish (Plalat)

 

Ingredients:

1 Fish (about 450g)
1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp sugar

oil for deep frying

Sprinkles

1 shallot, sliced

Some coriander/spring onion, chopped 

2 tbsp lime juice

Gravy

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 tbsp Thai chili pepper, sliced (I replaced with dried red chili)

2 tbsp fish sauce

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp stock (fish/chicken)

2 tbsp oil

Method:

Clean fish, score both sides of the fish deeply (each about 3 cm apart), pat dry on kitchen towel; set aside.

In a bowl, mix together salt, sugar and pepper powder; set this seasoning mixture aside.

Rub fish well with the prepared seasoning mixture (externally, internally and inside the scores too), set aside to marinade for at about 30 minutes.

Heat oil in wok or deep frying pan over medium high heat, deep-fry fish until both sides skin are crispy and golden brown.

Drained fish on paper towel.

Transfer fish onto a serving plate, sprinkle-on shallot and coriander leaves; set aside.

To prepare the gravy, heat oil in a pan over medium high heat, saute garlic till fragrant and starting to be golden brown.

Add-in chili, stir-fry till aroma.

Add-in the remaining ingredients, reduce heat to low and let simmer to thicken the gravy.

Remove from heat and pour the gravy onto the fish.

Sprinkle-on lime juice and adjust the taste accordingly.

Serve hot with rice.

Steamed Chinese Sponge Cake with Palm Sugar-Coconut Filling

Ingredients:

Sponge

160 ml (3) eggs
80 ml sugar
drop of green food coloring
drop of pandan essence
enough flour

Filling

1/4 cup palm or molasses sugar
1 cup water
1/2 cup dessicated coconut

Method:

To prepare filling:

In a small pot, bring water to boil.

Add-in sugar and stir to dissolve.

Add-in dessicated coconut, stir continuously till water almost dried out.

Remove from heat and set aside.

To prepare sponge:

Lightly grease enough muffin tins (about 6); set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk eggs with sugar-coloring-essence till pale, light and fluffy.

Gently fold-in flour one spoon at a time till batter level sinks to 80% of total height.

Spoon enough batter (about 1 ½ tbsp) into the prepared tins and steam over high heat covered for about 5 minutes.

Remove cover and spread on a layer of prepared filling in the middle of cake.

Spoon-on another layer of batter all over on top of filling surface and steam covered again for another 10-15 minutes.

Remove from heat and run a thin flexible knife or spatula around the tins to loosen the cakes.

Remove cakes from tins by inverting on palm and transfer onto serving plate.

Spread the remaining filling on top of each cakes and ready to serve.

Pan-Fried Stuffed Buns (水煎包)

Ingredients:

Dough

150 g all purpose flour
80 ml water
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp yeast
1/2 tbsp oil

Filling (in excess)

300-400 g minced meat
10 shrimps, shell removed, cleaned & chopped
1 ½ tbsp grated ginger
1 tbsp white pepper powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
1tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 ½ tbsp cooking wine
1/2 tbsp cornstach
1/2 cup chopped cabbage
1 stalk scallion, chopped

Method:

To prepare dough:

In a large bowl, combine all dough ingredients, knead till soft and smooth.

Lightly greased a container, place-in the dough, cover and let proof till doubled in size (about 1.5 hours).

To prepare filling:

In another large mixing bowl, combine all the filling ingredients except cabbage and scallion.

Stir thoroughly to give sticky texture.

Lastly add-in cabbage and scallion, stir to homogeneously incorporate.

Adjust taste accordingly with salt.

To assembly:

Over a lightly floured surface, punch down the dough and knead again for another 3 minutes.

With floured knife, cut dough into small pieces according to preference sizes.

Sprinkle-on some flour, flatten each small dough and roll out thin into rough sheet.

Place a spoonful filling onto the center of pastry, twist to seal the top and flatten lightly.

Place the filled buns on heavy floured plate with seal side down, cover with kitchen towel and leave to rise for about 20-30 minutes.

Lightly grease a non-stick pan, pan-fry buns to brown one side for about 1-2 minutes.

Flip over buns, sprinkles-on about 1 tbsp water around each bun, cover and steam for about 3-4 minutes to brown the another side and cooked thoroughly.

Once water just dried out, flip over buns, and cook the previous side for about 1 minutes covered again.

Remove buns from heat and best serve warm.

Cantonese Sweet & Sour Ribs (京都骨)

Ingredients:

600 g pork spareribs, cut to bite sizes
enough oil for deep-frying

Marinate

1 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1 ½ tsp Chinese five spices powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground pepper powder
1/2 tsp ginger powder
1 tbsp cooking wine

Sauce

1/2 cup ketchup
3 tbsp black rice vinegar
2 tbsp cooking wine
4 tbsp sugar
3 tsp light soy sauce
1 cup water
1/2 tsp salt or to taste

1 cup sliced bell pepper
1 onion, wedged
2 clove garlic, chopped
1 knob ginger, sliced
1 tbsp oil


Method:

In a bowl, marinade ribs with all the marinate ingredient for at least 30 minutes or overnight covered in fridge.

In another bowl, combine all sauce ingredients; set aside.

In a wok, deep pan or pot, heat enough oil over medium high heat and deep fry marinated ribs for 15 minutes or till brown.

Remove from oil and set aside on paper towels to absorb excess oil.

Remove excess oil from wok or pan.

Reheat 1-2 tbsp oil in the wok or pan, sautes garlic and ginger till fragrant.

Add-in onion and bell-pepper, stir-fry for 2-3 minutes, remove from heat and set aside.

Pour sauce mixture into saucepan, bring to boil and let simmer for 10 minutes (add water if appear dried out).

Return the ribs and precooked garnish into saucepan, stir to mix and thicken.

Dish-out and best serve hot with steamed rice.