Long Beans Wrap

Long beans is a chewy and sweet vegetable which is rich of fiber, Vitamin C,  folate for DNA synthesis and minerals such as manganese, iron, copper and magnesium. The most important thing however, is that it taste GREAT!  This dish is again a 10 minutes express that can easily prepared after coming home from work with hundreds of ways to customize it. Though, I am making a vegetarian version today.

Ingredients

• 20 long beans - washed and cut into half centimeter length 
• 1 carrot diced
• 1/2 of onion diced
• 2 - 3 cloves garlic chopped
• 1 red chili chopped fine ( reduce or increased based on your spice tolerance)
• 2 eggs beaten, add a bit of salt and white pepper to it 
• 1 tablespoon of canola oil ( or sunflower oil)
• Pinch of salt
• 1 flatbread
• 1 tablespoon tahini

Directions 

For the beans

• Heat the oil in frying pan
• Add chopped garlic, onion, chili and cook till translucent
• add carrot and long beans, add a pinch of salt 
• Stir and cook for one minute
• Make some room for the egg in the pan and pour the beaten egg 
• Let the egg cook for 1 minute
• Then start stirring to get a scrambled texture
• Take the beans off the heat

For the roll

• Take a flat bread and spread with some tahini (alternatively roast sesame, crush it coarsely, add some salt, oil and lemon juice to form a paste for the spread - I love this version of the spread better than any bottled stuff)
• Place the beans (must be cooled first) in the center of the bread and roll it
• Place the roll in a baking tray with some olive oil drizzle and bake till crisp

You can also easily customize this dish with seafood or leftover roast chicken or meat for a twist.

Enjoy the dish!

Gourd Soup with Chicken for a Rainy Day

A rainy day and I am looking for a warm and comforting clear soup...So making my ridge gourd (luffa) soup with chicken. Ridge gourd is another beautiful vegetable belonging to the cucumber family. It's rich in fiber and other nutritional values such as vitamin C, zinc, iron, riboflavin, magnesium and even insulin like peptide and alkaloids to control sugar levels.

I love the taste of this vegetable as it is and this recipe celebrates this humble vegetable that you can find in any Asian markets. If you can't find ridge gourd don't fret it, you can use any luffa type of gourd too, will work excellently.

Ingredients

• 1 ridge gourd - remove skin, cut into half lengthwise,  remove the core, then slice into small half circles
• 1 carrot - cut into lengthwise and slice into 2 to 3 mm pieces 
• 3 cloves of chopped garlic
• 1 thumb of ginger (Julien) 
• 3 shallots sliced thin in rounds
• 2 to 3 cups of chicken broth
• Some coriander leaves chopped fine
• clean the coriander root and slice it thin
• Some chicken fillet ( or you can use prawns or squids)
• 2 to 3 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 teaspoon of white pepper

Direction

• Pour oil in pan and heat
• Add the sliced shallots and fry, remove once  golden and set aside
• In the same oil, add garlic, ginger and coriander root and cook till translucent
• Add the chicken and cook for 30 second to 1 minute
• Add the chicken broth and let it come to a simmer
• Add salt and pepper to taste
• Lastly add the vegetables (carrot and the gourd) and cook for just few minutes (just till the gourd is cooked)
• Take the soup of the heat and add the coriander leaves
• Sprinkle with fried shallots before serving

Have it as it is or along some white rice. You will forget that it is raining.

Happy cooking :) !!!!

Crunchy Oatmeal Cookies with Cranberries

What not to like when it comes to crunchy cookies ? Making them at home can be a great activity with kids and sparks their creativity. This is my version of it with coconut, saffron and nutmeg.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of oats
• 1/4 cup of coconut (desiccated coconut or fresh grated coconut baked till dry)
• 3/4 cup of flour
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 teaspoon saffron (crushed)
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter soften ( or 113g) 
• 1 cup of castor sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions

• Preheat oven to 177 Degree C and prepare a baking tray with parchment paper.
• Mix flour with salt, baking powder, nutmeg and saffron in a bowl. Set mixture aside.
• Beat butter and sugar till creamy and fluffy ( 4 to 5 minutes ), then add the egg and vanilla extract till mixture is smooth.
• Then beat in the flour until mixture is well incorporated in the mixer ( on low). 
• Now use a spatula to mix the oat, coconut and cranberries till everything is mixed well.
• Use a teaspoon to scoop the mixture (into a ball shape) and place them on the baking tray 3 to 4 cm apart.
• Bake for 17 to 19 minutes.

Serve as it is with tea or coffee. Use it as a base or addition in other desserts such as cheese cakes, or a crunch for custards and puddings.

Happy baking, till the next recipe!

Ladies Fingers in Olive oil

This is a delicious and versatile vegetarian dish that takes only 10 minutes to prepare and cook. Plus rich in nutrition and fiber needed to control cholesterol and weight.

Ingredients

• 15 to 20 ladies fingers - sliced diagonally
• 3 cloves of garlics - chopped fine
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 4 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• a piece of old flatbread diced fine

Direction

• Take the flatbread and spread on a baking tray
• Drizzle some olive oil, bake the bread till crispy and set it aside
• Take a frying pan and place it on heat
• Pour the olive oil and heat it
• Add garlic and cook till transparent
• Add the ladies fingers
• Stir it occasionally until all the slime has dissapeared from the vegetable 
• Add pepper and then finish off with a bit of butter

Take it off the heat and sprinkle the crispy bread pieces. Serve with pan fried fish with flatbread or white rice.

Happy cooking and don't forget to post your twist on it!!!

The Sunday Celebration Cake for Orange Lovers

I need some sweet goods for my Sundays usually and this recipe is just perfect for tea with friends and family. Takes about 20 minutes to prepare and 45 minutes to cook. The cake is moist and the citrus adds sophistication to this ordinary tea cake.

Orange Semolina Cake

For Orange Liqueur Cake

Ingredients

• 125g Butter
• 1 cup Caster Sugar
• 1/2 cup Milk
• 2/3 Cup of Semolina
• 1 1/3 cup of Self Raising Flour
• 2 Tablespoon of Orange peels (choped fine) 
• 2 Tablespoon of Orange Liqueur (Note - add the orange peel and orange liqueur and keep aside)
• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Essence
• 2 Eggs

Direction

• Preheat oven to 200C and grease the cake tin (set aside).
• Beat butter and sugar till creamy, add orange peel and liqueur mix along with vanilla essence.
• Add one egg at a time and beat till incorporated.
• Fold in semolina and flour alternatively while incorporating them in the mix. Add a bit of milk each time until all dry ingredients are incorporated.
• Pour mix in the cake tin and bake for 45 minutes.

For Royal Icing

Ingredients

• 1/2 Lime Juice
• 1 Tablespoon of Orange Peel (Noodles)
• 3 Cups Confectionary Sugar
• 1 Teaspoon Butter
• 1 Teaspoon Milk
• 1 to 2 Teaspoon Water

Directions

• Add confectionary sugar to a pan, add lime juice, butter, milk and water. 
• Put pan on low heat and beat to get rid of any lumps and mixure (Thick but white and runny - if transparent means over cooked).
• Add the Orange Peel Noodles.
• Mix and take it off the heat.
• Drizzle it over cake.

( I sometime candy the orange peel noodles instead, as shown in the pic above)

Tangy, Crunchy Cucumber Salad with Boneless Chicken in Soy Sauce to beat a tough day....

This is a light lunch menu that goes well with white, brown or red rice or even wrapped in a flat bread. Ingredients are easy to find, takes about 20 to 30 minutes to prepare but the effort is totally worth it.

Enjoy it and share your version.

For the Cucumber Salad

Ingredients

• 1 Cucumber (Cut into 4 quarters lengthwise and remove the core (seeds) and then slice diagonally) 
• 1/2 of Red Onion (diced)
• 1/2 of a Red Chillie (sliced thin)
• 1/2 Cup of Vinegar
• Pinch of Salt (Rock or Sea Salt)
• 1 teaspoon of Sugar 
• 1/2 teaspoon of light Soya Sauce

Directions

• In a bowl, add vinegar, sugar, salt and soya sauce
• add the red onion and chillie
• Keep aside in the refrigerator
• After an hour (or just before serving) mix the cucumber with the vinegar and serve 

For the Boneless Chicken in Soy Sauce

Ingredients

• Couple of Chicken Thighs (bone removed and diced)
• 1 to 2 teaspoon of Ground Black Pepper (coarse and must be freshly ground)
• Soy Mix ( 1 Teaspoon of dark soy sauce + 5 Tablespoon of light soy sauce + 1 Teaspoon sugar + 2 to 3 Tablespoon water) 
• 1 shallot (sliced thin rounds)
• 1 to 2 cloves of garlic (minced)
• 1 Tablespoon ginger (julienne)
• 4 Tablespoon Canola oil for cooking 

Directions

• Pour oil in pan and heat it
• Add shallot and fry (do not stir to much as you want a nice shape when done)
• Remove shallot from pan once golden and crispy, keep aside
• Now to the same oil, add garlic and ginger 
• Cook till transparent and add chicken 
• Let the chicken cook a bit, then add pepper and salt
• Let all water to dry till chicken is a bit fried (crispy skin)
• Lastly add soy sauce mix, let it come together and take it off the heat 
• Garnish with the fried shallot prepared earlier

Serve hot with rice or flat bread.

Till next time - fussy cook signing off.