[with recipes] Homemade Chinese New Year Bakes

Are you ready for the Chinese New Year feast! Here we are counting down 3 days to the year of Sheep (Goat/Ram) which falls on this Thursday, 19 February 2015. I am sure by now most of you have already done your new year shopping; completed your bakes and left with last minutes grocery or fresh food pick-up before reunion dinner on Wednesday.

Likewise for the past few days we had being busy churning up new year goodies as gifts for relatives to show our appreciations and blessings to them. Below are recipes on some of our favourite bakes for this year including 2 recipes using air-fryer to "air-fried" crab sticks and arrowhead chips.

Chocolate Chip Muffins - 巧克力豆松饼

Adding a handful of chocolate chips to the usual vanilla scented muffin batter always turn them into great tea snack. These moist and fluffy delicious muffins can be eaten either warm or at room temperature together with a glass of cold milk or tea. And beside the chocolate chips filling sometime we also love to sprinkle extra chocolate chips or nuts on top of the batter before sending them into the oven.

Banana And Espresso Walnut Muffins

Two weeks ago, I made some Banana And Espresso Walnut Muffins using Nigella Lawson’s Banana Muffin’s recipe whereby I added some extra walnuts and instant espresso coffee powder  to enhance the flavour. I always love Nigella’s recipe which is easy to follow and the ingredients used  are also easily found in our kitchen pantry. Moreover these muffins are so light and fluffy which makes them a great company for breakfast or afternoon snack together with smoothie or hot beverages.

3 Recipes On Quinoa Salad - Part I

Many of you might have heard about this super-grains known as Quinoa(Keen-wah) which is consider as the "Mother of All Grains". According to the information that I Google online, quinoa is an easily digested grains with good source of fiber and it's also gluten-free too.

For the past few months I have being including some organic "quinoa" into our daily meals for at least 2 - 3 times a week on top of our usual white/brown rice. And in this post you can also take on reference how I make used of the red and white quinoa in our dishes together with other ingredients.

MOROCCAN CHICKEN QUINOA SALAD

Moroccan seasoning has an exotic flavour and it is usually used to marinade lamb, chicken or beef which is ideal for grilling, barbecuing or pan frying. You can easily grab a bottle of this Moroccan Spice (shown in the ingredients photo below) at your local supermarkets or you can mix your own using a few spices shown below too.

[Recipe] Gula Melaka Banana Cake With Walnuts

Our family loves "banana" cake except me. But about two weeks ago, when I saw Maryann (@tubbykat) Gula Melaka Banana Bread's photo on Instagram (here) I know immediately I am sold for this combination because of my favourite "Gula Melaka" which is one of the key ingredients for this recipe. With that added it definitely enhance the taste and aroma of the cake which makes them similar smells rather like caramel popcorn.

[Wordless Wednesday] Banana Chocolate Loaf With Nuts

{With Recipe} Eat With Your Family Day!

As most of us has read from newspapers or online media(s), the Singapore government has designated last Friday, May 25, as Eat With Your Family Day. This is to urge people to strengthen family ties through the "simple act of sitting down and taking a meal together" more frequently despite of each other busy schedules.

The annual "Eat With Your Family Day", is always falls on a Friday before the start of the mid-year school break for students. And this event is not only about food and eating but it also about relationship building and enjoying relationship as 'a family that eats together stays together’. In order to show supports to this annual event, some of the participated companies also allows their employees to leave work at 5pm on the last Friday on school term in May to have dinner with their family in order to promote strong family ties.

STEAMED EGG WITH HUAI SHAN AND LOTUS ROOT

Although our family often eats together during most of the mealtime, but in order to support and promote this event, I have made a new "Steamed Egg" dish using Huai Shan And Lotus Root instead of the usual minced meat, seafood or century egg.

(Serves: 2-3        | Preparation: 5 minutes       | Cooking: 15 minutes)

Ingredients:
100g of Fresh Huai Shan, grated/jubilee
50g Fresh Lotus Roots, thinly sliced
2 Egg(55g) Each,
50ml Drinking Water
1/2 Tablespoon Wolfberries
Dash of Sesame Oil
1/4 Teaspoon Salt

Method:-

1. Remove the outer skin of the huai shan, rinse and pat dry. Using a grater to either grate or shred it like what shown on the above picture. (squeeze off any liquid from the grated huai shan and set aside)

2. Next repeat the same procedure using a slice grater to cut thin slices off from the lotus root. (If you don't have any slice grater, you can use knife to cut thin slices from the lotus root too)

3. First arrange half the amount of huai shan in the steaming bowl, cover it with a layer of lotus root then top with the remaining huai shan before arrange the rest of the louts root on it.

4.Whisk the egg in another bowl together with dash of sesame oil and salt plus 50ml of water till combined.

5. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve gently over the prepared steaming bowl with huai shan and lotus roots.

6. Arrange the wolfberries on the lotus root, cover the dish with cling wrap or aluminum foil. Steam the egg custard over medium high heat for about 15 minutes.

7. To test if the egg mixture is cooked, insert a chopstick or skewer into the mixture, if clear liquid flows out means it is cooked. Remove and serve with steamed rice.

This is how my "Steamed Egg With Huai Shan and Lotus Root" look when scoop out from the dish. It has a combination of soft custard like egg plus a bit of crunch from the lotus root and huai shan. Perhaps if you prefer a more thicker egg like dish, you can increase the number of egg to 3 and water to 70ml to have a firm steamed egg dish.

This is one of our family favourite vegetable dish, "Stir-fry Broccoli And Cauliflower with Walnuts". As each of us have our own preference, I decided to combine both broccoli and cauliflower together so that we could pick up what we like. Adding of either walnuts of pine nuts for this dish gives it a nutty flavour and as well as enhance the texture of the dish with some crunchy bites.

Hope you would like my quick and simple homecook dishes. Remember even a simple dish makes a happy family when everyone gets to sit and eat together at least once or twice a week. If proper mealtime is impossible, try to start off with breakfast, tea-break or even supper.