Banana Loaf Cake

Ingredients:
3 large bananas

2 large eggs

50g pecans / walnut ~ roughly chopped

50g raisins

150ml buttermilk / plain yogurt

100g unsalted butter ~ softened

140g light brown sugar

280g all-purpose flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 160C.  Butter a 20x13cm loaf tin & line the base with greaseproof paper.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together butter & sugar with an electric whisk until creamy.  Add eggs one at a time.   Stir in the mashed bananas puree, pecans, raisins & buttermilk / plain yogurt.
3. Sift the flour & bicarbonate soda on top of the banana mixture; fold in until evenly mixed.  Do not over mix.
4. Pour the bananas batter into the loaf tin.  Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes until a skewer pushed in the centre comes out almost, but not quite dry.   Remove from the oven & leave for about 10 minutes.   Turn it out of the loaf tin onto a cooling rack to cool.

American Apple Pie

Crust:

2½ cup of all purpose flour

¼ cup cake flour

¾ cup fine sugar

½ stick butter

1 tsp baking powder

2 eggs ~ lightly beaten

Apple Filling

6-8 apples ~ Peel, core & cut into ¼” thick slices.

½ cup all-purpose flour

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon powder

2 tbsp butter

Directions:

1. Blend the 1st five dry ingredients in the food processor.   Pour in a medium bowl, make a well in the middle & add the eggs.  Mix well into a dough.
2. Press half of the dough in a 9” pie-pan & cover with a plastic & refrigerate for about 30 mins.  The other half wrap in the plastic & refrigerate for about 30 mins.
3. In a medium bowl combine the apples, with the brown & white sugar.  Add flour, cinnamon & continue mixing until they are well coated
4. Remove dough-lined pie pan from refrigerator.  Fill with apple mixture, gently packing apples & mounding slightly in center; dot with butter.
5. Remove remaining circle of dough from refrigerator.  Lie over apples; press along the rim to seal.  Brush the egg wash (1 egg yolk + 2 tbsp water) all over the top of the dough.
6. With a floured paring knife, cut 5-6 slits on top of pie, radiating from center; place pie plate on a rimmed baking sheet. 
7. Pre-heat the oven 180 deg C & bake for 40-50 minutes or until crust is golden & juices are bubbling.

Stained Glass Butter Cookies

Ingredients:
2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

¼ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

250g butter ~ softened

¾ cup granulate sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tin Fox’s Fruit Sweet

Directions:

1. Using an electric mixer, cream together butter, sugar & vanilla until pale & creamy.  Occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. 
2. Add egg & vanilla, beat until well mixed.
3. Reduce speed to low, gradually beat in sift flour mixture just until blended, occasionally scraping bowl.
4. Mix well & divide the dough into half, press each half into a disc then wrap in cling wrap & refrigerate for about 1 hour.
5. Preheat the oven to 160 C & line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
6. Roll each disc out between 2 sheets of baking paper to about 3mm thick.   Using cookie cutter cut out the desire shapes & place onto the trays.   Repeat the process until the dough finish.
7. Bake the cookies for 15-20 minutes until light golden.   Remove from oven & add 1 candy per cookies in the centre & return to over for an extra 5 minutes to melt.
8. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before removing from the tray & store in an air-tight container.

Seaweed Crackers

Today I went to Giant for my groceries,  I'm so craving for crackers then I saw this Nori on sale & I decided to buy & thought I would eat it while watching TV tonight.  Unfortunately, that didn't happen cuz I remember I had a recipe for Nori.   This recipe was given by my Japanese neigbour.  It's so sample & would like to share this recipe to my friends but I've to warn you that this is very addictive as you'll keep munching will frying them....so, enjoy & have a great day!

Ingredients:
1 packet of Nori Seaweed

1 packet of spring rolls

Some sesame oil

A tiny sprinkle of salt & pepper ~ per piece of seaweed

1 egg white

Directions:

1. Spring roll skins peel them apart nicely.  Don’t separate them all at once as they tend to dry out.
2. With a brush, spread egg whites on one piece of spring roll skin.   Lay seaweed on top.   Rub some sesame oil, salt & pepper on seaweed.   Brush another piece of spring roll skin with egg white & lay it on top of the seaweed, preferably covering the entire piece of seaweed.   Repeat for all ingredients.
3. Cut into any shape or roll like a Swiss roll.   Heat up oil & deep fry till golden brown &crispy in batches.    Separate the pieces which stick to one another.    Cool till the batches feel lukewarm before storing in an air-tight container.

Homemade Pattie Sausages aka McDonald Sausage

Couple of days ago, my eldest daughter asking me to take her to MacDonald for breakfast.   Each time we had breakfast, she'll asked me to order for her "Sausage McMuffin with Egg".  Even it costs only S$2.00 plus, (not to mentioned about our MRT fares, back & fro) I still find it expensive.  Especially family of 6.....So, I asked my dear hubby to get recipe from his family!
This morning, I decided to try how to make breakfast sausage for my family & some for my neighbours for breakfast.   Everyone loves it and I would like to share this recipe with you, my friends.....give yourself a try!

Ingredients:
16 ounces (450g) ground beef / turkey / pork (look for lots of fat in the meat)
½ tsp salt
½ tsp dried parsley
¼ tsp rubbed sage
¼ tsp ground black pepper
¼ tsp crushed red pepper
¼ tsp dried thyme
¼ tsp coriander powder
¼ tsp MSG (Ajinamoto)

Directions:

1. Mix the entire ingredient in a large bowl & well blended.
2. Roll into a ball & pat into patties.
3. Fry the patties in a skillet on each side until golden brown on both sides & done in the middle.
4. Drain on paper towels.   Serve immediately with your favorite egg, sliced cheese & English muffin.

Spring Roll Crackers

After making the "Seaweed Crackers," I had a couple of spring rolls left, so I decided to make something instead of freezing them. Did you know we can make many dishes with spring rolls, such as mini popiah, vegetable spring rolls, and steamed spring rolls?
I was introduced these crackers by my aunt in Malacca.   She gaves me a bottle of these crackers.   I started nibbling on these while watching TV at home and in no time, they were gone!   They were so addictive that I called my aunt in Malacca to share with me this recipe.  Surprisingly it was really easy!  This is what you will need to make this delicious little snack.

Ingredients:
1 packet of spring rolls (square or rectangle)

1 egg white or 1 tsp cornflour ~ for sealing

Oil for frying

Sugar for coating

Directions:

1. Roll a spring roll like Swiss style with the help of a chopstick.
2. Seal the edge with some egg white or cornflour.
3. Cut up into desired size & deep fry till golden brown (Note: Best result, let it dry for couple of hours then fried them to get the crispiness)
4. Drained on the absorbent paper towel to absorb any excess oil.
5. Toss them into a bowl of sugar so that they are all coated with sugar.   Store them in an air-tight container when cooled.

Ngo Hiang ~ Spicy Chicken/Shrimp Roll

Make 15 Rolls

Ingredients:
1 tbsp oil

5 shallots ~ sliced

500g minced chicken

300g shrimps ~ chopped coarsely

8 water chestnuts ~ peeled & chopped

1 egg

1 large dried bean sheet ~ cut into 15 equal rectangles

1 tbsp corn flour ~ for paste

Seasoning:

½ tsp five-spice powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp black soy sauce

Pepper to taste

1 tbsp corn flour

Directions:

1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a work & fry shallots until golden.   Set aside.
2. Mix chicken, shrimps, water chestnuts & egg in a large bowl.
3. Add the seasoning & blend in corn flour.   Finally add the fried shallots & shallot oil.  Mix well to combine.
4. Soak the dried bean sheet for about 1-2 minutes.   Wipe both sides of the dried bean sheet with a damp cloth to rid it of excess salt.
5. Place a small amount of meat mixture in the middle of the sheet & roll like a spring roll.   Use corn flour paste to seal.
6. Place rolls on a heatproof plate & steam for 10 minutes or so in covered wok.   Cool.   Serve with chili sauce.

Barbie Doll Cake

It's my first time to bake this Barbie Doll Cake for my daughter, Ashley, whom celebrated her 5th b'day on March 21, 2009 (Saturday).  I bought myself a Wilton doll cake set & I used my daughter's Barbie doll instead.

The Wilton doll cake pan is not tall enough for the whole Barbie Doll, so I needed to bake 2 set of deep round cakes for the bottom dress.  Else my doll cake might look funny as the doll & dress are not proportionate.

I baked this Barbie Doll Cake on the day itself early morning.   As my fridge is not big enough to put the whole Barbie Doll cake in it.  Give yourself a try!

Ingredients:
3 Boxes Premix Cake (Yellow cake) – Read Instruction for baking

Butter Icing

3 Blocks of butter ~ softened

1 tbsp vanilla essence

3-4 tbsp milk (your preference)

3 ¼ cups confectioners sugar

Directions:

1. Baked 3 premix cake as per the box’s instruction.  1 cake for the skirts (Wilton mould) & 2 deep round cake for the bottom skirts.
2. Invert the cake to completely cool & chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.  Using a serrated knife, trim tops of cakes to make level; brush off crumbs.
3. Make the butter icing:  Cream together butter, vanilla & milk.  Slowly beat in confectioners’ sugar, adding more if need to make a nice fluffy.
4. Place four strips of parchment paper around perimeter of a serving plate.  Place the first thin layer on the cake plate & spread top with ¾ cup of icing.  Place the second layer on top, bottom side up & spread with icing; repeat process with the third layer which is the skirt.   Spread thin layer entire cake with icing & chill in the fridge for 15-20 minutes.
5. Once the icing is hard, insert the Barbie doll in the middle of the cake.   Spread entire cake with remaining icing & decorate to your own desire.

Note:
Before spread icing, insert the Barbie to be sure that the Barbie is fix right in the cake, if not you can cut the middle of the cake to fix the Barbie doll in.

Lap Khai ~ Spicy Thai Chicken Salad

I'm craving for thai dish today & I'm not sure what should I cook as my hubby is on diet!  No rice!  Mmmm....ok, there's cabbage...some healthy dish then.

Ingredients:
500g ground chicken

2-3 shallots ~ thinly sliced

2 kaffir limes leave ~ julienne

3-4 sprigs fresh spearmint ~ chopped

3 tbsp roasted rice powder (roasted the rice & blend)

1 tbsp chili flakes

3 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp palm / brown sugar

Garnish:

Cabbage

Green Beans
Parley
Coriander Leaves

Directions:

1. Bring a pot of water & add 1 tbsp lemon juice to a boil.   Cook the ground chicken for approx 5 mins.  Strained the ground chicken & put in a large bowl
2. Add all the ingredients into the ground chicken & mix well.   Serve with fresh vegetables & warm freshly-steamed rice.

Steamed Sponge Cake

Ingredients:
1 cup shift cake flour (Note: not 1 cup cake flour, shifted)

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

5 eggs

½ tsp cream of tartar

¾ cup fine sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp lemon extract

Directions:

1. Line an 8x8 inch cake pan with parchment paper.  Prepare a wok for steaming.
2. Place the flour in a medium bowl.   Sift in the baking powder & salt & set aside.
3. Separate the egg yolks & whites.   In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites until frothy.  Add the cream of tartar & beat briefly.   Add ¼ cup of sugar & beat for another minutes (don’t let the egg whites stiffen).
4. Add the egg yolks & the remaining ½ cup of sugar.  Add in the almond & vanilla extracts & beat for about 2 more minutes.
5. Gradually add the flour mixture to the egg mixture.  Stir thoroughly, do not beat.  Pour the batter into the cake pan.
6. Bring the water in the wok to a high boil, then turn down to medium.   Steam the cake, covered for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
7. Remove the cake pan from the wok (take care when removing the wok lid to keep condensation from dripping onto the cake).   Cool the cake on a rack.   Invert onto a plate & remove the parchment paper.   Re-invert onto another plate so that the cake is right side up.

Buttercream Cupcake

Ingredients:
3 eggs

1 cup butter ~ softened

1 cup caster sugar

½ cup milk

1 ½ cups self-raising flour ~ sifted

1 tsp vanilla extract

Topping:

1 cup icing sugar

1 tsp strawberry essence

1 cup butter ~ room temperature

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 160 deg.  Line a 12-cupcake pan with cupcake papers.  In a medium-sized bowl, lightly beat the eggs, add butter & sugar, and then mix until light & fluffy.
2. Add milk, flour & vanilla & stir to combine.  Beat with an electric mixer for 2 minutes, until light & creamy.
3. Divide the mixture evenly between the cake papers.  Bake for 18-20 minutes until risen & firm to touch.   Allow to cool for a few minutes & then transfer to a wire rack.   Allow to cool fully before icing.

Topping:

1. Meanwhile, combine half the topping ingredients except candied, mix with a wooden spoon, add remaining ingredients & beat with a whisk until light & fluffy.
2. Apply the topping with the back of a teaspoon or a small spatula.   Place the candied on top.

Mini Fruit Tart & Lemon Curd

Make 50-60 pcs

Lemon Curd:
250ml Lemon Juice
2 tbsp Lemon zest
4 eggs
320g caster sugar
220g butter
1 tbsp cornflour

Tart Crust:
125g butter ~ chilled
60g icing sugar
½ eggs white
1 egg yolk
200g plain flour
½ tsp vanilla

Glaze:
3 tbsp Gelatin
90g sugar
250ml water

Fruits:
Strawberry
Kiwi
Peaches

Method for LEMON CURD

1. Bring some water to a simmer in the saucepan.   Place a stainless steel mixing bowl onto the saucepan.
2. Add all the ingredients except butter.  Whisk the ingredients together.
3. Finally add the butter, whisk occasionally & once the mixture thickens, remove it from the heat.

Method for TART CRUST:

1. Beat butter & icing together till well mixed.
2. Add egg white & yolk into the batter & mix well & add vanilla.
3. Add flour into the batter.
4. Press the sweet pastry into the tart moulds.   Trim off the excess pastry.  Bake at 180 deg C till they turn golden brown.
5. Mix filling ingredients together, put the custard mixture into a piping bag & pipe onto baked tart shells
6. Arrange sliced fruits on top & pour the boiled glaze mixture over.

CornDog

Ingredients:
Hotdogs

Wooden skewers

Cornflour ~ for dusting

Oil ~ for deep-frying

Tomato sauce ~ for dipping

Batter:

1 cup plain flour

1¼ cup cornmeal

1½ cup of milk

1 tsp baking soda

1 egg ~ lightly beaten

1 tsp salt

¼ cup sugar

Directions:

1. Insert wooden skewers through each hotdog, leaving some of the skewer sticking out for a handle.  Dust the hotdogs with a little cornflour.
2. Make the batter, sift the flour & baking soda into a large bowl, stir in the cornmeal, sugar, salt and make a well in the centre.  Gradually add the combined egg and 1½ cup of milk, whisking to make a smooth, lump-free batter
3. Heat oil in a deep heavy-based pan.  Dip the hotdogs into the batter a few at a time; drain off the excess batter.   Using tongs, gently lower the hotdogs into the oil.  Cook over medium-high heat for 1-2 minutes or until golden & crisp & heated through.   Carefully removes from the oil.  Drain on crumpled paper towels & keep warm.   Repeat with the remaining hotdogs.   Serve with tomato sauce.

Seafood / Fish Baked Rice

Ingredients:
1 Kg Dory fillets ~ cut into half

300g Prawns ~ peel & deveined

6 crab sticks ~ cut into cubes

Mixed vegetables

Shredded cheese – Mozzarella / Cheddar (your preference)

Rice:

1 cup rice ~ washed & drained

5 cloves garlic ~ minced

8 button mushroom – white / brown

2 tbsp butter

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Marinate:

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp ground black pepper

6 tbsp chopped fresh sweet basil leaves

Dash of sugar

Directions:

1. Marinate seafood & set aside for 1 hour.
2. Heat wok with butter, sauté garlic & button mushroom till fragrant.
3. Add rice & stir the mixture for about 5 mins.  Pour into rice cooker, add water to coo according.
4. Add salt & pepper.   Stir the rice mixture & let it cook.
5. Prepare any baking dish (1 used 3.5” x 5” aluminum foil baking dish) by coating with some olive oil.
6. Scoop rice into the baking dish & arrange marinate seafood on the rice.
7. 7. Sprinkle some olive oil & top up with shredded cheese.
8. 8. Pre-heat oven at 180 deg C & bake for about 15-20 mins or till cheese melted.   Serve immediately.

Note:
For simplicity, just plain rice & add butter.  Mix together and follow steps 6 onward.

Beef Lasagna

Ingredients:
9 lasagna noodles

¾ lb extra lean ground beef

3 cloves garlic ~ minced

1½ tsp dried oregano leaves

1 jar (26 oz) Spaghetti sauce

1 large tomato ~ chopped

1 onion ~ finely chopped

1 carrot ~ finely chopped

1 egg

16 oz Cottage Cheese (I used Breakstone’s)

¼ cup KRAFT grated Parmesan Cheese

2 cup KRAFT Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180 Deg C.
2. Brown meat with garlic, onion, carrot & oregano in saucepan.  Stir in spaghetti sauce; simmer 5 minutes.   Stir occasionally.  Remove from heat & stir in tomatoes.
3. Mix egg, cottage cheese & Parmesan.   Spread ½ cup spaghetti sauce mixture onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish.
4. Top with layers of 3 noodles, 1 cup cottage cheese mixture, ½ cup mozzarella & 1 cup remaining sauce mixture.   Repeat layers.   Top with remaining noodles & remaining sauce mixture.   Cover with foil.
5. Bake 30 minutes or until heated through.   Uncover; top with remaining mozzarella.   Bake & uncovered for 5 minutes or until mozzarella is melted.   Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Simple Butter Cookies

Ingredients:
250g butter ~ soft
250g icing sugar
500g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
Cherry for decoration (Optional)

Directions:

1. Beat butter & sugar till the mixture turn pale & fluffy.
2. Add in egg yolks & white & mix well.
3. Add flour to form soft dough.
4. Place the dough in the cookie & shape.
5. Arrange cherry on cookie & bake at preheat 180 deg C for about 15-20 mins or till golden brown.

Thai Steam Fish

Ingredients:
2 or more white fish fillet (or snapper & cod fish will do)

½ cup chicken broth

3 tbsp white wine (I used Chinese cooking wine)

1 tbsp rice vinegar

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 stalk lemongrass ~ sliced finely

1 red chili ~ sliced finely

1-2 tbsp sesame oil

1 tsp cornstarch ~ dissolved in 3 tbsp cold water

Garnish

1 thumb-size ginger ~ sliced like matchstick

3 spring onions

2 tbsp olive oil

Handful of fresh coriander sprigs

Directions:

1. Pound or process lemongrass slices.   Add into the chicken broth & wine in a pot over medium-high heat.  Allow to come to a boil.  Cook for 5 minutes until lemongrass is soft.
2. Turn down heat to minimum & add vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, fish sauce, and chili & sesame oil.  Do taste tests for salt – if not salty enough, add more fish sauce (Note: sauce needs to be fairly salty in order for the combined sauce & fish to taste its best).   Add cornstarch & stair until slightly thickened.  Remove from heat.
3. Place fish in a shallow casserole or baking dish that will fit inside your bamboo steamer or colander.  Make sure there is 1-2 inches of water in the bottom of the work.
4. Pour 1/3 – 1/2 of the lemongrass sauce over fish.  Set the rest aside but keep it warm.  Sprinkle the ginger & spring onion over fish.  Cover the steamer & steam at high heat for 10-15 minutes.  Fish is done when inside is easy to flake & white.
5. Remove the fish from the steamer.  Place on a serving platter.   Add olive oil over the fish.  Pour the remaining sauce & sprinkle with sprigs of fresh coriander & spring onion.   Serve with Jasmine rice.

Cheesy Baked Salmon

Ingredients:
1 pound salmon fillet

1 clove garlic ~ crushed

½ tsp dried drill weed

Salt & pepper to taste

½ cup shredded Cheddar Cheese

3 green onions ~ chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180 deg. C
2. Place the salmon on a large piece of foil, season with garlic, dill, salt & pepper.   Seal foil around the salmon & place on a baking tray.
3. Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven.   Top with Cheddar cheese & green onions & continue baking 5 minutes or until cheese is melted & fish is easily flaked with a fork.

Steamed Egg White Rainbow Cake

Found an old recipe in my recipe file and thought of giving it a try. This cake uses only egg whites which happen that my neighbor gave me during her baking cake lapis for CNY and I had left in the freezer to clear.   The layering of the cake can be quite a time consuming but it was worth every effort.

Ingredients:
500g egg white (about 20 large eggs ~ 60g)

¼ cup evaporate milk

1 tsp vanilla essence

150g melted butter

225g castor sugar

300g top flour

1 tbsp ovalette

½ tsp for each color (Red/Green/Yellow)

1 tbsp chocolate emulco

¼ tsp salt

Directions:

1. Beat egg white at high speed.  Add sugar bit by bit once the egg white turns bubbly.  Continue beating till soft peak.
2. Add milk, vanilla, ovalette & butter into the egg batter & continue mixing
3. Add flour & salt & mix till good blend.
4. Split the batter equally into 4 parts & add color to each part & chocolate emulco into 1 part.
5. Grease a baking tin with butter & scoop 1 tbsp of yellow mixture into the center of the baking tin, continue with 1 tbsp of the red onto the yellow mixture, scoop 1 tbsp of the green mixture onto the red, scoop 1 tbsp of the chocolate mixture on the green and repeat with the yellow, red, green and chocolate until the finish.
6. Steam on high heat for about 30 minutes or till cake is done.

Suji Cookies aka Semolina Cookies

Source: QQB Site

Ingredients:
250g QBB
1 tsp vanilla essence
500g plain flour
2 tsp bicarbonate soda
170g icing sugar
¾ tsp fine salt

Directions:

1. Melt QBB over low heat & cool.
2. Add vanilla essence to cooled ghee.
3. Sift flour, b. soda, icing sugar & salt into mixing bowl.
4. Pour ghee mixture in flour mixture & knead well to form firm dough.
5. Preheat the oven to 180 deg C.
6. Roll dough into melt-in-your-mouth ball sizes and place on greased tray.
7. Bake for 10-15 minutes till cooked but not brown.   The cookies should be white & crumbly in texture.