Lavender-Cointreau Baked Seafood

Lavender is a genus of about 25–30 species of flowering plants in the mint family. The plant is also grown commercially for extraction of lavender oil from the flowers. This oil is used as an antiseptic and for aromatherapy. Lavender flowers can be candied and are used as cake decoration. Lavender is also used as a herb, either alone or as an ingredient it is also used to flavour sugar, the product being called "lavender sugar", and the flowers are occasionally sold in a blend with black, green, or herbal tea, adding a fresh, relaxing scent and flavour.


You can use this Lavender-Cointreau Dressing for baking other seafood like Prawn or Scallop. Since I still have some frozen scallop in the freezer, I took one of it to bake with the reminding sauce.

Ingredients:
1 Large Scallop
1 Tablespoon of Lavender-Cointreau Dressing
Some Fresh Lemon Rinds
Pinch Of Chilli Flakes

Methods:
1. Rinse and clean the scallop well, pad dry and place it on a big of aluminum foil, fold the sides up to form a parcel so that the sauce will be within the foil when baking.
2. Top the scallop with lemon rind, Lavender-Cointreau Dressing and chilli flakes and baked in the toaster oven for about 3-5 minutes depending on the thickness.
3. Remove it from foil and place it on serving plate.

Lavender + Cointreau + Blueberry + Lemon Rinds + Cod Fillet = Lavender & Blueberry Baked Cod Fillet. What do you think of these combination? Do you dare to give it a try? It's really a combination of favour, fragrant and taste. If you have these ingredients in your pantry, do give it a try and you will be surprised with the outcome :)

Ingredients:
1 Piece of Cod Fillet, about 150g
6 Fresh Blueberries
Some Fresh Lemon Rinds
2 - 3 Cherry Tomato, halves
2 Tablespoons of Lavender-Cointreau Dressing

Methods:
1. Wash and pad dry the cod fillet then place in on the middle of an rectangle aluminum foil, fold the four sides up to form a rectangle parcel so that the sauce will be within the foil when baking.
2. Top the cod fillet with blueberries, lemon rind, cherry tomato and the Lavender-Cointreau Dressing and baked in the toaster oven for about 7 - 10 minutes depending on the thickness of the fillet.
3. When the fillet is cooked, remove it and place it on serving plate and drizzle the sauce from the fish parcel to the fillet.

To make the Lavender-Cointreau Dressing, it's not necessary that you must have Cointreau. You can replace it with Grand Marnier or Orange Juice if this dish is to serve to kid.

Ingredients: (makes about 150ml dressing)
1 Teaspoon of Honey
3 Tablespoon of Olive Oil
1/2 Teaspoon Dried Lavender
1 Tablespoon of Lemon Juice
1 Tablespoon of Cointreau

Methods:
1. Place all the ingredients in a small saucepan or frying pan over moderate heat, stirring with a spoon at all time, until ingredients caramelised into a sticky sauce. (it will be about 3 - 4 minutes)
2. Remove from heat and allow to cool then use it for drizzle over the seafood before baking.

Steam Corn Kernels Dumplings

I believed most of us will fancy on Sweet Corn which is sweet and full of favour. You can either steam it and eat with a touch of butter or you can use it for making desserts or even salad. Corn contains beta-carotene, small amounts of B vitamins and vitamin C. It is a useful source of protein and is rich in fiber.


This afternoon, we will be having this cute and nutritious finger food to serve together with rice. I made these using Pork and Prawn minces with shredded carrot, water chestnuts and some seasonings. From the usual dumpling skin which used to wrap the filling and steam as we called it Shao Mai (click link to read more) or Siew Mai in more of the Chinese dim sum restaurants. I replace the dumpling skin with corn kernels which will give it a new look and also increase the texture and favour of this dish.

I am sure most of the kids will love this dish because of the corn kernels and it's colourful appearance. This is also another good method to put vegetables and meat together for kids to consume.

Ingredients: (make about 10 dumplings, ping pong ball size)
150g Pork Mince
150g Prawn Mince
20g Shredded Carrot
3 Water Chestnuts, finely chopped
1 Tablespoons of Chopped Spring Onion
1 Teaspoons of Grated Ginger
1/2 Tablespoons of Shallot Slices
Seasonings:
1 Tablespoon of Light Soy Sauce
1/2 Tablespoon of Sesame Oil
1/2 Tablespoon of Cooking Wine
1 Teaspoon of Cornflour
1/2 Teaspoon of Pepper
Coating:
1 cup of corn kernels, either frozen or fresh

Methods:
1. Mixed all the ingredients(except the corn kernels) and seasonings together till well combine and set aside in the fridge to marinate for at least 1 hours or overnight.
2. Put the corn kernels on a flat plate, roll about 1 tablespoon for filling into a round shape then coat with the corn kernels. (You might need to use your finger to stick the corn kernels to the filling.)
3. Set aside on a steam plate and continue with the rest of the rolling and sticking.
4. Steam the corn dumplings on medium heat heat for about 7 - 10 minutes depending on the size.
5. Slowly remove it from the steaming plate and arrange them on the serving plate and prepare the drizzling egg sauce.
6. To prepare the egg sauce, preheat a small frying pan or sausage with some oil, add 1 teaspoon of oyster sauce and let it bubble for a few second then add in 60ml of water, and stir till the oyster sauce is mixed through.
7. Next, slowly add in one tablespoon of beaten egg white and stir until it change colour then add in some cornstarch water to thicken the sauce.
8. Use a spoon to drizzle the sauce on top of each arranged corn dumplings, top with extra chopped spring onions and chillie and serve.

Tips:
a) You can replace the chopped chillies to Chopped Carrot for the topping if this is to serve for kids.
b) To make the prawn mince, you can either chopped the shelled prawn using the back of the knife or you can put it in the food process and blend it together with the pork mince and seasonings.
c) To make an easy egg sauce, you can used ready stock pack and just pour the chicken stock into a small saucepan and then before it begin to boil, stir in the egg white and thicken with corn starch.

Bento #4 - Ham & Cheese Sandwiches

A wonderful and healthy lunch is just as important as a hearty breakfast. Today is Monday, the starting of the week again so I decided to make something hearty and healthy for lunch. Since I have bought some shave honey baked ham and wholemeal bread on Sunday. I decided to some ham and cheese sandwich to go with the apple and cucumber sticks for lunch.

My son and I love the Apple Dipper from Mac Donald so I got the idea of making my own Apple and Cucumber dipper with Caramel Sauce and it really taste great for a starter. I have slightly toasted the bread slices before adding cheese, ham, tomato and cucumber slices to it. I wrap it nicely with foil and baking paper then tie with baking string to that they can sit up straight side by side. As for the dessert, I serve it with two cubes of the Macadamia Nuts & Chocolate Fudge Brownies which we made on Sunday afternoon.

Bento #4 - Ham & Cheese Sandwiches

A wonderful and healthy lunch is just as important as a hearty breakfast. Today is Monday, the starting of the week again so I decided to make something hearty and healthy for lunch. Since I have bought some shave honey baked ham and wholemeal bread on Sunday. I decided to some ham and cheese sandwich to go with the apple and cucumber sticks for lunch.


My son and I love the Apple Dipper from Mac Donald so I got the idea of making my own Apple and Cucumber dipper with Caramel Sauce and it really taste great for a starter. I have slightly toasted the bread slices before adding cheese, ham, tomato and cucumber slices to it. I wrap it nicely with foil and baking paper then tie with baking string to that they can sit up straight side by side. As for the dessert, I serve it with two cubes of the Macadamia Nuts & Chocolate Fudge Brownies which we made on Sunday afternoon.

For More Details:
1. Check it up @ My Bento Collection Site