Chicken dumpling soup for the sunny day sniffles

It was really this sunny towards the end of October as I typed this. Coming from Singapore where sunny days are quite a given, over here in Germany as soon as the sun shows itself, people literally go on a mad scramble "to go outside!", "go for a walk!", "go for a bike tour!", "go fly a kite!","do a bit of gardening! (aka let me take out my motorised lawn mower, electric saw for the hedges and other noisy gardening equipment) or anything that requires someone to be outside (except car washing on a sunny Sunday coz that's a strict no no for whatever reason that I have come to accept coz when in Rome...yadayada). But actually, I am about to admit that I have caught that bug too. So though I was actually down with the sniffles, a phlegmy cough and a headache on a sunny Sunday, I actually did want to go out and be outside and do one of things on the list above on this sunny October Sunday. But luckily my husband knocked some sense into my head, gave me a mug of Inner Peace tea, put on my fave TV show on the laptop and brought the kids out for some kiddy fun at a railway station carnival, telling me to rest.

But stubborn me looked out of the window and felt such a guilty feeling for being indoors, that I sneaked out with my cuppa and the laptop, sat on the sunny balcony and started to write this blog instead. And so, now I am at peace with myself, and am....outside :-)

Did help that I had this for lunch though. And on days such as this, I am thankful that I am a chicken bone hoarder. Yes, I hoard all the chicken bones after making roast chicken and when I have enough (about the whole chicken), I toss them into a pot, add a liter of water along with slices of carrots, onions, cloves of garlic, inches of ginger and boil the heck out of them to make my own chicken stock. Which is handy when I want to make chicken soup like this. Or simply use a premade one if that is what is easier.

Chicken dumpling soup to soothe the sniffles.

The soup stock

Chicken bones from 1 chicken carcass
2 or more carrots if you like it sweeter
2 onions
5 cloves of garlic
1 inch of ginger, chopped roughly
Salt and pepper to taste

All ingredients are based on approximation you see, and there is literally no right or wrong. I do add in a stick of cinnamon and cloves and a few star anises if I want to go the Asian route or a add in a "bouquet garni" if I want a French flair. But most of the time, I use the basic stock recipe so I can adjust for whatever dishes I want to cook later.

So once the soup stock is done, I taste for seasoning and add more chopped carrots and a handful of chopped button mushrooms. And the soup is done!

The Chicken Dumplings (taken from recipe for Bouillon de poulet avec des quenelles de volailles from The Little Paris Kitchen Cookbook)

200g raw chicken breast cut into cubes
100g white bread with crusts trimmed off, also cubed
100g single cream or whipping cream
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon salt
A pinch of black pepper
A pinch of nutmeg

I put all ingredients in a food processor and whizz them until the mixture is finely minced. Then using 2 tablespoons, I scoop a tablespoonful of minced chicken and form it into a roughly oval shape. Then I drop it into the boiling soup. Repeat this until all dumplings (quenelles) are shaped into oval forms and dropped into the soup. Cooked dumplings rise to the surface. That's when you know your heartening, soothing broth is ready!

Grab a big bowl and pour yourself a few ladlefuls of chicken dumplings, carrots and mushroom. Scatter chopped parsley or chopped spring onions and fried onions if you feel like it, get a big spoon to slurp all this goodness. And feel better! :-)

I know I did.

Chicken, Sausage and Vegetable Tray Bake

On this day, I've decided to throw my microwave oven away. First, because it took up too much space on my small kitchen counter and second, because I seldom use it anyway. And third, because it may or may not be dangerous to your health. I say may or may not because for whatever reputable studies you read that show microwaves are dangerous, there are also other reputable studies that show they are not. Just like everything in life. So I just do what I think is right. And I recently came across someone who said not to hold on to things that are not beautiful or useful. She was talking about spring cleaning, but that huge chunk of metal on the kitchen counter that is hardly used seemed to fit into that category. And so out it goes. Now hopefully that rule of the thumb will help me as I step into my basement to throw (or give) yet more stuff away.

But wait! What about dinner? Luckily I have this chicken, sausage and vegetable tray bake recipe up my sleeve :-)

I mean, you take chicken, sausages and whatever vegetables you have that are roastable, and bung them on a tray in the oven. That is it! And the oven cooks it for you while you get on with your work. And it comes out delicious and perfect every time and you can have it with rice or bread or soup or salad. Dinner is served (and you don't need the microwave oven).

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken, jointed or 4 chicken legs
• A pack of sausages (I got the spicy turkey kind)
• 4 medium sized potatoes, cubed
• 2 onions, also cubed into the same size.
• 2 carrots (or pumpkins or sweet potatoes) who also meet the same fate
• 2 capsicums, cored, deseeded and cubed as well
• A handful of cherry tomatoes
• A handful of olives (optional)

• Half a cup of olive oil
• Pepper
• Salt
• Any dried or fresh herbs you have on hand (e.g oregano, rosemary, basil)

This is how you do it

Usually, once I buy chicken, I will marinade them before I freeze them. So when I need some, I merely defrost the frozen, marinated chicken overnight in the fridge (or place the whole bag in water for 2 hours). Of course if you don't have any marinated chicken on hand, you can just spice-rub the chicken with salt pepper and herbs but the taste tends to just stick to the skin. But it works too.

If you are making a spice rub, then in a bowl, mix a teaspoon of salt thereabouts with the pepper and herbs, and olive oil. Or, even better, use a pestle and mortar to mix and grind them. Then rub it all over the chicken and toss the vegetables with it.


Lay the vegetables first on a tray, then the chicken pieces on top. Roast for half hour or till chicken juices run clear, about 50 mins. I like to turn the chicken half way to ensure even roasting at the 20 minute mark and again at the 40th minute.

You can use frozen chicken pieces too. Just put them into the oven first, without the vegetables. 20 minutes later, take the chicken pieces out of the oven, pour out the water from the tray if you think it is too watery, and rearrange everything by putting in the vegetables first, then the the chicken pieces on top. From then on, roast for about another 40 minutes. 

Enjoy your meal and the zen feeling you get for having cleared things away! 

How the Harvest Moon became a Cheesecake

It was a Harvest Moon last week from 9-10 September. I didn't know what it was, except having heard of it in Sex in the City when Samantha's latest boyfriend acted in a play with the same name and so she brought the glitterati from Manhattan to Brooklyn to support this otherwise nondescript staging. But apparently the Harvest moon is so called, as the farmers in the western part of the Northern Atmosphere used the light of the moon at this time to harvest in the night, due to its exceptional brightness caused by it being closest to the Earth as we move towards Autumn equinox. Who knew?  There's something interesting to be learnt every day right?

Anyway the big bright moon reminded me of a cheesecake. Don't laugh. It makes perfect sense. It's yellow and round and delicious. Many other foods have been inspired by a big full moon anyway, like the Chinese Mooncake or the American Moon Pies...and even Cookie Monster looked at the moon and saw a cookie!  And being berries season, I thought, what better to make a cheesecake and adorn it with jewel-like berries that will only make it better? So I searched for a low-fat recipe (so that I can scarf down half a cake at one sitting if necessary), bought them plumpcious blackberries, blueberries, rasberries and strawberries and got to work. By the way, eggs, milk and berries are breakfast ingredients too. Ergo cheesecake is also for breakfast. I like my logic :-)

My homage to the Harvest Moon Cheesecake (adapted from Kraftrecipes.com)

Ingredients

For the crust

• 4 low-fat graham crackers or 8-10 Oreos, crushed  
• 2 tbsp soft butter

For the filling

• 3 packs  (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Yogurt or Low fat or Fat free Cream Cheese, softened
• 150g  sugar
• 1 tsp  lemon zest
• Juice of half a lemon (more or less depending on how tart you want the cake to be)
• 1/2 tsp  vanilla extract
• 3 eggs

For the topping

• Sliced fresh strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries  
• Warmed strawberry jam, chocolate sauce or even Nutella

This is how we do it

Heat oven to 180 degrees

Using a food processor, add the butter and the graham crackers or Oreos until it becomes soft and sandlike. Press this to the bottom of the springform pan or a pie plate.

If you have no food processor, put the cookies in a ziplock or similar, and using a rolling pin or preferred implement for knocking, beat it till the cookies crumble. Then transfer to a bowl and add in butter which has been melted. Press this to the bottom of the pan.

Beat the cream cheese, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and the vanilla extract with mixer until well blended. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each, until blended.
 
Pour the cream cheese mixture into the springform pan or a pie plate.
 
Bake for 45 min or until center is almost set.

Cool completely or refrigerate for 3 hours (while marvelling how much like the moon it resembles).

Adorn with berries and pour the warmed strawberry jam or chocolate sauce over it . And feast with your eyes and your tastebuds.

Om nom nom. 

Granola muffins to the rescue!

There are times when I am so bored with breakfast that I need something else rather than the usual cold cereal with milk or warm eggs with something. Sure waffles and pancakes are great, but I would have to cook them first, something I don't usually like to do when I am ravenous and not yet coffee-ed up while my 2 small kids in the background fight over a ball and spill milk on the carpet. And for those days when I have to get the kids ready, get myself ready, eat breakfast and rush for a morning meeting with my boss, it gets worse. So here's what I do. I make a batch of these babies the night before. And voila! I am transformed to a serene smiling mommy in the morning, sipping coffee with everyone, happily munching a delicious muffin that is packed with ingredients that delivers something for the health (granola), the mind (Mommy gets to feel accomplished) and the soul (a day that starts with smiles is a day that will be filled with more of them!)

Granola and Walnut Muffins with Chocolate Chips (adapted from Nigella's Granola Muffins recipe)

In this recipe, Nigella made her own granola, which I did not. I followed her example of intelligent short cuts and used store bought Chocolate Granola. Muesli would work too I suppose. I don't like dried fruits in my muffins, but I suppose you can add them too if you want.

Ingredients

225g plain or whole meal flour or a mix of both
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda/baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
250ml buttermilk
1 egg
175g light brown soft sugar
80ml vegetable oil (I used rapeseed oil)
250g granola 
A handful of walnuts, chopped
A handful of chocolate chips or chocolate chunks

This is how we do it

The beautiful thing about muffins is that all you have to do is mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. You don't even need a mixer for this, just a bowl and a wooden spoon.

So in a bowl, mix together the flour(s), baking soda, salt, sugar, walnuts and choc chips. In a measuring jug (or another bowl), mix the buttermilk, egg and vegetable oil together until it becomes a somewhat yellowish mixture. 

Make a well in the centre of the the dry ingredients. Pour in the wet ingredients bit by bit and mix them lightly to combine,  just so that the it forms a sticky brownish liquidy batter with lumps in them. With muffins, a lumpy batter is a good thing - it makes the muffins light and fluffly. 

Then, using an ice-cream scoop (or a large spoon), drop a scoop of batter into the muffin cups. It should fit all 12 to 16  normal-sized muffin cups, depending on how full the cups are.

Slide the muffin tray into an oven that's been pre-heated to 180 degrees and bake for about 25 mins or until they are risen and golden and spring back when you press them.

And there you have it! Breakfast, a sense of accomplishment and a peace of mind for tomorrow (and dessert for now).

Good things do indeed come in small packages. :-)

Thin Crust Pizza on the fly

So who's up for another seemingly effortless homemade meal? Seemingly effortless, as in more effort than just picking up the phone, but definitely less effort than cooking a 3-course meal. But feeding a family has made me more aware of what goes into my food, and I realise, I like knowing what goes into my food. And my kids love pizza and I used to buy frozen cheese Dr Oetker ones and put my own toppings, but once I read the ingredients and realised the number of unpronounceable chemicals they have in it, I decided to switch to ordering pizza only from Italian restaurants. Except those were way more expensive, though delicious. We still order pizza, but ever since coming across this recipe for pizza crust, I've been making more of my own. And no one is complaining either!

INGREDIENTS

For the pizza dough. (taken from Italian Basics by Schinharl and Dickhaut)

This makes enough for  4 small dinner plate-sized pizzas or 2 big ones. It does take a little planning, but if like me, you plan lunch while eating breakfast, you can get right to it after cleaning the capuccino cup. I usually make the dough after breakfast (takes all of 7 minutes. Really! I timed it!), then let it rise and occasionally punch it down, until it is time to assemble the pizza (about 2 hours. But really, 2 hours is just its 'alone time', while you leave it alone and get along with your ever-so-busy life so it doesn't count.)

• 300g plain flour
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cube or 21 g of wet yeast (or its dry instant equivalent)
• 150ml warm water (more or less)
• Sprinkling of sea salt 

This is how we do it :

(It's so easy! No flipping skills needed!)

Either using your counter or in a large bowl, add in the flour, salt, olive oil, and then crumble in the fresh wet yeast or tip in the dried yeast from its packaging. Add the water in a slow stream bit by bit and knead the flour into a dough, until if forms a small ball. Don't worry if it's too wet, just add in more flour. It should no longer be sticking to your fingers. Then leave it in the bowl, cover it with a wet cloth, and leave it in a warm area. My warm area was on the balcony in the sun. I checked it every half an hour coz it thrills me to no end to see the pizza dough double in its size, and then flatten, coz I've just punched all the air out of it.  Hehehe :p

When you are ready to cook the pizza, just roll out the dough, spread the marinara sauce on it, top with your favourite toppings and bake it in the oven for about 10 minutes in an 180 degree Celsius oven. Oven times may vary though according to your oven and crispiness preference. We like our with a just-brown crust and gooey cheese.

Pizza sauce :

The easiest way is to open a jar of marinara and spread it on top of the pizza.

The second easiest way is to use my recipe for all-in-one-pot marinara sauce which is equally delicious, plus you would know what's in it.

All-in-one-pot delicious marinara sauce for everything.

• A can of peeled tomatoes
• Half a can of water (or chicken or vegetable broth if you like)
• A clove or more of garlic, pressed and finely chopped
• A chopped onion
• A tablespoon of butter
• A tablespoon of olive oil
• A tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
• A tablespoon of sugar
• A pinch of salt
• A dash of pepper
• A sprinkling of dried Italian herbs or just simply dried Basil and/or dried Oregano 
• Optional - grated parmesan and creme fraiche (or philly cream cheese if that's what's in your fridge)

This is how we do it :

Take a pot. Put everything in it (except the last 2 optional ingredients - they go in towards the end.) Turn on heat. Cover. Stir occasionally. 30 minutes later - the end. Adjust for seasonings if needed. Thick, rich, homemade marinara sauce for pasta, pizza, lasagne,  meatball sandwich sauce etc. Easy peasy!

Pizza toppings :

Of course you top it with whatever you want but these are our favourites :

Hawaiian Pizza

• A few slices of turkey mortadella, torn.
• A few pineapple chunks straight out of the tin.
• Fresh Mozarella cheese. Now if you do use fresh mozarella, my tip is to squeeze the water out of them to make sure the pizza does not come out watery and soggy which was what happened to me once when I made Margherita Pizza with only tomatoes (which was watery) and unsqueezed mozarella cheese (also watery)
• Or whatever melty cheese you fancy - Gouda or Cheddar works well too. But don't tell the Italians when you are using Dutch or English cheese ok?

After rolling out the dough, I top it with the sauce, turkey and pineapples and put it straight into the oven. After about 8 minutes, I check the crust and when I see it turning brown, I take the half-baked pizza out and put the cheese on top. This way, I still get gooey melty cheese without undercooking the crust.

Roasted Vegetable Pizza

This time, I added an assortment of mushrooms, capsicum, onions and pineapple chunks. The important thing to remember is to cut them thinly and about the same size. And do not add to much topping or the pizza will get soggy.

Other than those, I also top the pizza crust with leftovers like chicken, salmon, stir-fried vegetables and whatever can else that will taste good with cheese. Having said that, you can also spread the cooked pizza crust with nutella and berries for a crunchy chocolatey dessert! :-) Have pizza, will eat! 

Buon Appetito!

Instant crust Pizza Blanco with Tuna Mayo, Grilled Vegetables and Fresh Mozarella

It's asparagus season!

Not that it is a big deal where you may be, but over here in Germany, stands selling asparagus and strawberries spring up everywhere between April and June. And in my area, the speciality is white asparagus, which is not featured here today, but will make its appearance soon. What this season has to offer are also fresh green asparagus, so green, that at first I thought they were too young to be eaten! So now I know, that it is actually not normal for green asparagus to have dark tips - that simply means that they are old and usually past their prime. But hey, we work with what we get and this Instant Pizza Blanco (Pizza with white sauce as a base instead of tomato sauce) will make any old vegetable you have in your fridge, delicious again. Feel free to add whatever veg and cheese combo you have lingering in your fridge. I just happened to have fresh mozarella and asparagus that needed to be eaten. So here goes :


 THE INSTANT PIZZA  BASE

I wanted to make pizza but had not time (or the patience) to wait for the dough to rise, so I opted for a yeastless version that I have used before to make a vegetable tart. But this time, I used wholemeal flour in a an attempt to make it healthier. The result is a very quick, thin crunchy base that goes very well with all the cheese on top. The recipe is adapted from Smitten Kitchen that used this pastry for its Mushroom Galette. Pardon the American cups measurements but if you have no official American measuring cup, a coffee cup usually does the measurement just as well.
 
1 1/4 cups all-purpose or wholemeal flour
1/4 teaspoons salt
90 g cold, unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1/4 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup (or less) very cold tap water or water from the fridge

Me being a food processor convert, I just dumped everything except the cold water into the processor and blitzed everything for about 15 seconds until i get big-breadcrumbs-like consistency. After which I added the water bit by bit until the crumbs formed a ball of dough. I then took the ball of dough out and rolled it out on on a baking/parchment paper to the desired thickness.

For those of you who want to do the long way round., then I'm afraid you have to dip you hands (preferable cold) into a bowl of flour, butter and salt. Mix using only the tips of your fingers until you get something that looks like a pile of breadcrumbs. After which, add in the other ingredients except the water. Once the 'breadcrumbs' get bigger, add the water to form everything into a ball of dough. Roll out to desired thickness.

At this point, while you prepare the topping, pop the pizza base in the oven for about 5 minutes at a 180 degree oven just to let it crisp up enough to hold the rather wet topping.

THE TOPPING

A can of (dolphin free and sustainable) tuna flakes
3 tablespoons of (low fat) mayo
Assortment of vegetables thinly sliced in this case -
1/2 capsicums/bell peppers
1/2 onion
6 stalks of green asparagus left whole with ends trimmed
A ball of fresh mozarella (or as much as you want from a pack of grated mozarella)
A sprinkling of freshly grated parmesan
Some olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Well first, I mix the tuna with the mayo until you get a sticky yummy mixture that is then spread onto the slightly cooked pizza crust. Then I coat the sliced vegetables with olive oil, salt and pepper and spread them on the crust. No cheese yet. Slide everything in the 180 degree oven for the next 20 minutes or so until the vegetables are nicely grilled.

Just when you think the vegetables are done, tear up and squeeze the water out of the fresh mozarella and place the chunks on top of the vegetable slices (I slice them pretty thinly to get them to cook fast). If you are using grated mozarella, skip this step, just sprinkle the cheese on top. Place the pizza once more in the oven, keeping watch until the cheese is to your level of gooeyness and bubbliness (maybe another 5-7 minutes).

At this point, I take the pizza out and just before serving, grate some parmesan over for some added flavour and more cheese! Oh absolute yums for those days when you want something crispy topped with something meltily gooey and cheesy with just the right amount of saltiness that is not so bad for you because vegetables are also present. Plus it leaves your kitchen with a warmth that is perfect for cooler weather days. I am sold!

When Hachis Parmentier met Cottage Pie...

The thing you notice about living in Europe is, (if you come from a place like Singapore where global influence pretty much pervades culture, language, food and entertainment) is how hard they try to keep themselves apart. Different. Even though they share the same border, language, air and water. I'll give you an example how (there are of course numerous but I like to talk about food so here goes).

We like to go to France sometimes for dinner at this restaurant called Au Vieux Moulin, just because, hey we get to eat French food in France after a 30 minute drive to a town called Lauterbourg. It is right at the border, except that there is literally no border. You just notice after a while that there are more cars with yellow French plates instead of white German ones and the roofs on the houses are tilted at a slightly different angle and there are more people who speak French-accented German unwillingly and voila! You are in France. And then you notice the butchers are no longer Metzgerei but Boucherie and the bakeries are no longer Baeckerei but Boulangerie/Patisserie with cute little chairs and tables with checkered tableclothes selling dainty things that call out to you. And then you buy a croissant and they taste like the real thing. And you eat what the Germans call Flammkuchen (known as Tart Flambee in France) and it tastes, better. But what I don't get is, you go to the German cafe 5 minutes away in the bordering German town and you order the exact same thing and somehow, it is no longer French. But it's the same ingredients, the same air, the same water. And yet somehow, they have been able to make it quintessentially so different that you know you are no longer in Kansas, Toto (if you don't know this quip, you have to watch Wizard of Oz ok? Promise me).

Anyway being the Singaporean I am, and since I am living the fusion life, of course I live, breath and eat multiculturalism, even if it is just in my kitchen. All this "mine is better yours" and "we are so different because we are better" is kinda lost on me. Or I am attempting to shake off this attitude. At the very least, my children will get the best of many worlds, cultures, languages and food. And at the very most, why I am promoting world peace of course. And yes, it starts in my humble kitchen.

Which is why I have married these 2 versions of the popular meat-and-potatoes dish as a political statement to promote cultural understanding and to show that we are all actually very similar. Or it could be that I was searching for the most delicious and least time-consuming way of feeding my family meat and potatoes. Either way, the outcome is pretty tasty and now y'all know how I feel.  Peace, out. And enjoy the cassoulet/Auflauf/casserole.

Meat-and-Potatoes Casserole (or you can call it Cottage Pie on-the-fly Andriana Style but some people might object to me rapping)

For the Mashed Potato layer

4-5 large potatoes
4 tablespoons of butter
Sprinkling of salt, black pepper and garlic powder
1/2 cup milk (more or less)

The slow and full-of-loving French-like way :

Bake the potatoes until soft. Then cut into halves, scoop the filling out and mix it together with the rest of the ingredients. Set aside.

The good thing about this method is that you can bake the potatoes the night before, if you are planning to make it on that day. If you are the sort of person to plan meals, that is (just because it takes about 1 hour to bake the potatoes)

The quick and dependable English-like way :

Peel the potatoes and cut them into somewhat even-sized cubes. Boil in salted water. Drain and mash together with the rest of the ingredients. Set aside and try not to finish eating it all up before the pie is done. Takes about half hour from start to finish.

The minced meat layer (actually I am just nipping the sauce from my Easy Peasy Fusilli recipe with a few additions)

• 500g minced meat
• A can of tomatoes in tomato juice
• Half a can of water, swirled around to get all the tomatoes out
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• Salt
• Pepper 
• Garlic powder (or 1 minced garlic)
• A tablespoon of balsamic vinegar,
• A teaspoon of sugar (to cut the acidity)
• French or Italian dried herb seasoning
• 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce 
• Carrots, peas or whatever vegetables you wanna add, chopped

First add a few tablespoons of olive oil and fry the onions and minced garlic (if using) with the minced meat. Add salt, pepper and garlic powder (if not using minced garlic) to taste, along with the herb seasoning. Once the meat is nicely browned, add the rest of the ingredients into the pan/pot. Let the whole thing simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes until it has reached a jarred sauce consistency. Adjust the seasoning.

For topping

Parmesan cheese shavings
1 beaten egg for egg-wash.

The Assembly.

Now just place the minced meat sauce into a casserole dish and add the mashed potatoes on top. Then pour the egg on top of the potato layer and, using a fork, spread the egg around,  making fork marks and little mounds or hills to encourage the top to crisp and brown. Finish off with a layer of parmensan. Bake in the oven at 200 degrees for about 30 minutes or until you think the top layer is brown enough. Serve with a nice green salad and lots of love and laughter.  :-)

(Like most things in life, appearances do not matter much. But you get the idea of how your casserole might turn out).

Fusilli with Peas and Prawns in Easy Peasy Homemade Tomato Sauce

Lately I have been reading lots of Facebook posts from Viralnova and Buzzfeed. Some of them are simply irritating and clearly a vehicle for ads, but once you've sieved through the garbage, there are some pretty useful tips. Like the one about the 30 foods that you will never have to buy again. I actually have 4 cans of peanuts to be ground into peanut butter, cans of chickpeas for hummus and of course, stacks of canned Italian tomatoes that are waiting to be transformed to pasta sauce. Because pasta sauce is one of the things that will never ever have to be bought again. And it is really a simple, foolproof recipe that never goes wrong. Like, never. Ok I've made this recipe about 5 times now since reading the post and the recipe and it's actually the best tasting tomata pasta sauce I had. And all with only a few ingredients that I have in the fridge. I may sound like I'm raving, but don't diss it til you try it. And if you are too lazy to look for the links, here is my version of the easy peasy homemade tomato sauce recipe.


Ingredients for basic tomato sauce (serves 3-4 pasta portions)

• A can of tomatoes in tomato juice (preferably Italian)
• Half a can of water, swirled around to get all the tomatoes out
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 onion, chopped (or more if you prefer)
• Salt
• Pepper
• A tablespoon of balsamic vinegar,
• A teaspoon of sugar (to cut the acidity)

Question : Now what do we do with all these ingredients?

Answer : Why just dump them in a pot and let them bubble bubble toil and trouble of course. And leave them alone for about 30 minutes or until the sauce has thickened to the tomato sauce in a jar consistency. Feel free to add seasoning to balance the acidity and the taste.

Now that you've mastered the quintessential art of making tomato sauce for pasta from scratch, feel free to add other ingredients for variety. My favourite add-ons are fresh parmesan gratings, creme fraiche and dried Italian herbs. Goes well with most pasta dishes. I've also added dried pepperoni (that's chilli to most of us), olives, fresh basil...the list is endless, you get what I mean? And it's so easy (and a lot cheaper) that I am most certainly never going back to bottled or canned ones.

For this version with fusilli, I added about 30 grams of grated parmesan, 1 tablespoon of creme fraiche and let them simmer together with a handful of peas and prawns.

Then all I had to do while the sauce simmers is to boil the pasta to al dente, save about 3 tablespoons of the pasta water, drain the pasta and mix the sauce in together with the reserved pasta water. And voila! Yummy pasta. Congrats, you have done well :-)

Now pour yourself a glass of your favourite drink, set out the green salad and enjoy your meal!

Oven Braised Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

I went native today. So it's not your fault if you don't recognise what this is - Kohlroulade mit Hackfleisch Füllung und Kartoffelpuree or simply Rolled Cabbage Leaves stuffed with minced meat and served with mashed potatoes. Tastes better than it sounds.. The inspiration came from a shopping mall. I was walking past a shopping mall in Heidelberg, this one known as Galeria Kaufhof, and they have a restaurant on the top floor of the 5 storey building. Quite a nice view from up there serving pastas, salads and soups and other German and European dishes with a corner selling cakes and pastries with coffee. You take what you want, you bring your dish of choice to the cashier and you pay.  Afternoons are really full with the working crowd so that was why I chose to duck the crowds and instead go home and recreate the daily special. And being me, I'm sure I added more herbs and spices than usual. But I am also sure it tasted better! For me at least. So if you want a taste of Germany, Andriana style, and in half an hour, here is the recipe.


Ingredients (for 8 rolls)

For the Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

8 large cabbage leaves
300g minced beef or chicken
Dashes of garlic powder,
Rosemary powder
Black pepper,
Paprika powder,
Salt
1 small egg, beaten
1 teaspoon of flour

For the sauce

150ml apple juice
100ml water
2 teaspoons (more or less) of Worcestershire sauce
Salt
Pepper
Garlic powder
Squirt of tomato paste

I started off with making the sauce first. Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a bowl and put aside.  It should taste tangy sweet.

Prepare the cabbage leaves by first boiling them briefly in hot water (just enough to submerge) with about 1 tablespoon of sugar to make them both more pliable and palatable. Remove when soft enough, drain and set aside.

Add all the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and mix them thoroughly. That's it, don't  be squeamish, scrunch it up with your hands!

When the cabbage leaves are sufficiently cool, place one flat on your cutting board. Take a chunk of minced meat filling. roll up into a sausage and place it in the middle of the cabbage leaf.  Fold the leaf in left and right, then fold the bottom upwards making sure that the minced meat sausage fits snugly like a bolster. Then roll the leaf up and either tie up the ends or if you can't be bothered like me, just place it in a casserole dish, folded side down. Do the same for the rest and make sure they all fit in snugly together in the dish to prevent unfolding. Make sure you add oil to the casserole dish beforehand to prevent sticking.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees until they have brown edges and the meat filling juices run clear (about 20 mins). At this point, I add the sauce and bake further until the sauce is reduced to about the height of the cabbage rolls.

Remove and serve on warm plates together with mashed potatoes and perhaps some steamed vegetables if you are so inclined.

Guten Appetit!

Karaage Chicken

Continuing with our Japanese theme (happens for a few days every month coz we love love love Japanese food), this time it is Karaage Chicken, which is basically small pieces of chicken marinated in soy sauce and spices and fried in a batter. This is wonderful served with hot rice, miso soup and salad and is always welcomed by my kids, especially when served like this :

Do you see a smiley face?

But my plate looked like this :

(I really should invest in Japanese style bowls eh?)


Karaage Marinade Ingredients:

1 teaspoon garlic powder/grated garlic
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder/grated ginger
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons Japanese soya sauce
Salt
White pepper

400g chicken thigh fillets or chicken breast meat, skinned, cut into little squarish pieces

Put all ingredients in a plastic bag or a tuppaware and give everything a good rub and shake. Or use the usual method of putting everything in a bowl and mix everything together with your hands or with a spoon. Set aside for at least 1/2 hour but I do it overnight.

For the batter

1/2 an egg
2 tablespoons cornflour
4 heaped tablespoons all purpose flour
generous sprinkle of pepper and a little salt

Oil for deep frying

Ready? Set. Go!

When ready to fry, put all this batter ingredients (except the oil of course) into the plastic bag/tuppaware/bowl and give everything another good mix, making sure every piece of chicken is coated. No mess, no fuss, you fingers don't even have to touch them! 

You do not need a deep fryer, just a highish-rimmed pan (to prevent excessive spritzing) and some oil.

Fry the chicken pieces a few at a time, making sure that the oil is hot enough (you will hear the sizzle when the chicken pieces hit the pan). Do not fit too much or they will not crisp up. Turn if necessary and fry for about 3 minutes until nice and brown. Drain and serve hot on rice.

Oishii!

Okonomiyaki fritter-pancake-pizza

What is that? That, my friends, is my attempt at the 'Japanese Pizza' or japanese-ly known as Okonomiyaki. Japanese food being super expensive here and since Okonomiyaki is nowhere to be seen, I am therefore forced to learn Japanese cooking if I were to satiate my Japanese food cravings without breaking the bank. Japanese ingredients are available here at my beloved Tiger and Dragon Asia Supermarket. We go there every month and spend about 200 euros on Asian things like lemongrass and tumeric, tofu and prata (both from Tuas, Singapore mind you!) as well as the quintessential Dashi, Jap rice, bonito flakes and various other Japanese seasonings that previously did not catch my attention when shopping at Takashimaya, Singapore. Nowadays, we also go there for durians, but I digress. This post is about Okonomiyaki and how easy it is to make and how much I (and the children) love it. And I hide vegetables in them so the don't know that it is good for them too hur hur. Ok and now to the recipe, that is adapted from various Internet websites. There are so many out there, ranging from the Americanised version that did not add Dashi (and yet dare to call itself Japanese vegetable pancake) and others that are such purist versions that i don't know half the ingredients they call for (what is Koji and where can I get it?)

Anyway, here it is.

Ingredients (serves 4 for dinner)

The batter :

• Half a small cabbage (anymore and the gas is your own doing!)
• 1 carrot (not usually added, but this is my way of making sure that my kids get their beta carotenes)
• 2 cups flour (I used plain all purpose flour, self-raising is also possible)
• 2 1/3 cups water
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons dashi powder (or can be replace by chicken stock powder, but it ain't Japanese no more!)
•  About 200g shelled, uncooked prawns 

Shred the vegetables, by cutting finely by hand or using the food processor. Then in a bowl, add in the flour and 4 eggs, water and dashi powder and mix them using a mixer. Finally fold in the vegetables and there you have it, the batter is ready to go.




Heat oil in a frying pan. When hot, add batter to make a circle of whatever size you want. I made mine about the size of the pan. Let it cook until the bottom is crisp (about 3-5  mins). While waiting, add the prawns to the batter. Then flip and let the batter with the prawn side cook until crisp (another 3 mins).

For the Topping

• Okonomiyaki sauce or Tonkatsu sauce (store bought) 
• 1 to 2 spring onions sliced thinly 
• Japanese Mayonaise
• Bonito flakes 

Then add the toppings as generally as you want. I lacked Bonita flakes in the picture coz I ran out of them before remembering that I had to take a picture. I told my kids (who love pizza) that Japanese Pizza is ready and it was nice seeing them eating eagerly :-) Little did they know, there were eating cabbage and carrots too!

(I had some leftover batter and for breakfast the next day, I added chicken ham and Gouda cheese that I had in the fridge. Equally delicious and a great breakfast too! And reminded me somehow of Tako pachi balls. Hmm that would be my next project it seems!)

Mission accomplished.

Seafood noodle soup for the soul aka Mi Soup

The problem with writing a blog about cooking with 2 toddlers is sometimes the 2 toddlers take up most of your (my) time that cannot write it! Luckily it is just a hobby though. And baking cookies and cakes for the festive season, though a pleasurable past time and certainly a pleasurable deed when eating them, does lead to a somewhat thicker waistline that creeps on you (that is, me). But unlike some people who start the year with a resolution to eat less, or to exercise more, I simply do not bother. I did read a book, however, titled 'French woman for all seasons' in which the writer espouses the French woman's way of eating light after eating well, heavy stuff. And being basically Asian and familiar with a yin-yang approach to life, as well the tendency to eat soupy things when the weather gets cold and rainy in Singapore, I found myself craving for one of my childhood favourites that has the ability to satisfy all the senses in one slurp.

I suppose this is a Malay take on a Chinese noodle soup dish. The broth is a flu-chasing tonic of pounded onions, garlic and ginger,  enriched with chicken (or vegetable) stock. Add to it the slippery rice noodles, plump fishballs or prawns and top it all with spinach, fresh coriander and spring onions as well as the pre-requisite crunchy fried onions and fresh chilli pickle. The result is an explosion of tastes and sensations on your tongue that is comforting and delicious at the same time. And you just know that it is good for you. Just writing and thinking about is making me hungry! Actually, I do think I'm ma get a bowl of this 'Mi Soup' as a reward for finishing this blog myself.

Seafood Noodle Soup aka Mi Soup (serves 2 adults and 2 kids)

The Noodle Broth.

1 white onion
2 cloves garlic
1 inch length of ginger root
Vegetable oil for whizzing and frying
1 litre (more or less) of chicken or vegetable stock (or Ikan Bilis stock cube, if you wanna go native)

1 cinammon stick, bruised
2 star anise
3 cardamom pods, bashed to break them up slightly
Pinches of salt
Dashes of white pepper

1/2 packet of rice noodles (the thin kind)


As much prawns and fishballs as you want
As much spinach as you can stand (or other green leafy vegetables)

Ready? Set. Go!

Pound the first 3 ingredients using a pestle and mortar or, if you are feeling modern, place them in a food processor with some water and vegetable oil and whizz until pureed.

Fry the spice paste with about 1 tablespoon of oil and the cinammon stick, star anise and cardamom pods until fragrant (about 1 minute depending on the heat). Then add the stock and stir. Adjust for seasoning with salt and white pepper. Then add the fishballs and prawns. When everything is cooked and tastes good, add the spinach, cover the pot and turn off the heat. Easy peasy.

In the meantime, soften the rice noodles according to packet instructions. Once soft, drain and set aside.

As Topping

Coriander leaves
Fried onions
Fresh cut chilli
Salty soya sauce
Sweet soya sauce
Tomato Ketchup
Rice Vinegar

Are you ready to eat?

Now what I do, is first put some noodles into the bowl, pour some broth over it and add all the toppings. Mix to taste, bring to table with your chosen implements for eating and enjoy slurping while the cold goes on outside. Mmm happiness.