Fried Potato Balls

It is not my usual style to deep fry things in my kitchen as I hate the use of large amount of oil in cooking. But once in a blue moon, I'll try out some deep fried dishes just to satisfy the craving of those at home. I have a very understanding hubby, he always tell me to buy whatever deep fried stuff I feel like eating, no need to spend so much effort to go through the process.

Last week, I made these deep fried potato balls for dinner. They go very well with tartar sauce and the kids love them. Yummy!



My apologies for not having a proper recipe as I didn't really measure the individual ingredients. Hopefully this estimated recipe will give you an idea of how to make these. You can always alter yours according to your liking.



Fried Potato Balls

Makes about 36 potato balls

Ingredients (estimated)

550g minced pork
10 Chinese mushrooms
3 tbsp light soy sauce
Coriander powder (I use quite a generous amount)
Dashes of sesame oil
1 egg yolk
5 medium potatoes
Garlic Salt
1-2 tbsp Margarine
Bread crumbs
1 egg white



Method
1. Soak and wash the Chinese mushrooms. Cut them into small dices.
2. Season the minced meat and mushrooms with the light soy sauce, coriander powder, sesame oil and egg yolk. I marinate it for at least 2 hrs.
3. Boil the potatoes till cooked. Remove the skin and mash them when hot. Season with margarine and garlic salt (use normal salt if you do not have garlic salt).
4. Mix the mashed potatoes with the seasoned meat. Make into balls of about 1.5 inches. (I use two spoons to make into balls so that I don't have to mess up my hands.)
5. Coat each ball with egg white followed by bread crumbs. Freeze the balls for 15 mins to prevent too much crumbs from dropping off during frying.
6. Fry the balls in hot oil until golden brown. Drain and serve with tartar sauce.

Bread and Pasta?

This is what you get when your creative juices are emptied after a tired day of work (the backache has been bugging me for a few days). I can't think of a better title.

First, on a backlog (yes, again). I made this Chocolate bread (recipe from the HongKong book) last Fri.


It was indeed my first Chocolate bread (other than the swirl version some time back). The dough was good to work with, not too wet. I used my VM to knead it in the beginning and further hand knead it to get a smooth dough. Don't you think it looks pretty? (ok ok, I know I'm obsessed with smooth bread dough...)


The chocolate flavour is quite prominent, so the kids naturally love it. Texture wise, quite good, I would say.



The Royal Prince was complaining why I'm cooking rice everyday (sigh...very difficult to be a royal maid). So I decided to cook pasta today, partly because I've got loads of tomatoes in the fridge. I had wanted to do the Chunky Tomato sauce I did last time as it was so good, but decided to create another version. My experiment paid off, this turned out equally good. Royal Prince usually don't like tomato base for his pasta (he prefers creamy kind), but he didn't complain today.



Homemade Pasta Sauce

Ingredients
8 ripe tomatoes (mine weighs about 865g)
1 tsp dried basil
3 tsp garlic, chopped
3 tbsp sugar (adjust according to the sweetness of your tomatoes)
1.5 tsp salt

Method
1. Cut 3 tomatoes into chunks. Blend the remaining 5 tomatoes till juice/puree form.
2. Heat up 2 tbsp of oil in a wok. Fry the garlic till fragrant.
3. Add the tomatoes (both chunks and juice), salt, sugar and basil and simmer till juice has mostly dried up (takes about 30-40 mins). The consistency should be that of store bought pasta sauce.
4. Add other ingredients (e.g. hotdogs, minced meat) and simmer another 5 mins till the additional ingredients are cooked. This goes well with minced meat.
5. Serve over cooked pasta/spaghetti.

Note: I had wanted to add in one yellow onion, but didn't have that on hand.

I don't think there can be any easier way to make our own pasta sauce. Try it and let me know your verdict.


Mood:

Buns finally

Why am I forever behind my blogging? Every time I cooked or baked something, I would very eagerly take down the pictures before they're gone. But when it comes to blogging, I seem to be taking forever.

Here's some of what I've done for the past week.

Chicken in Vinegar 鸡醋


The pig trotters in vinegar is one of my favourite confinement dish that I could eat everyday during my confinement. This is a variation of that, minus the gingers to eliminate the heatiness. I use chicken drumsticks instead and cook for about 1.5 hrs. It was very yummy, even the kids love it, especially Karina. She asked for more meat after finishing her dinner.

Baked Beef Stew


I learnt the above from a fellow forum member. The special thing about this stew is, you use the oven to bake it slowly, hence producing juicy meat and absolutely yummy stew. The aroma started to emit from the oven after about an hour and my tummy started complaining! The cut of meat is very important for a tender stew, choose meat with a little fat in between. I find that baking for at least 3 hrs is the best if you like your veges to be on the softer side. The advantage of making stew in the oven is, you do not have to worry about the sauce drying up as all is enclosed in the pot. However, do use a large pot and fill only up to about 70% of the pot or the juice will overflow when it starts to boil, which happens to me and I had a hard time cleaning the oven. Another tip is to place the pot on a baking tray lined with aluminum foil for easy cleaning in case of spilling.

Prawn Fritters


Did these on Sun when Kat and her family came over for dinner. I had been wanting to try these ever since seeing them in KC. I did a little variation. I mixed a little Kentucky flour into my own-made self-raising flour for a tastier fritters. The kids love them. They're tasty, but I'm still wondering why they're not crispy.

Cheesy Luncheon Buns


Finally I did buns yesterday after a long, long break from bread. It was an impromptu decision. I woke up in the morning feeling a little free after sending son off to school (a rare feeling ever since I became the royal maid, maybe I'm becoming more efficient? lol...). Decided to make bread as I really miss the bread making feeling. I wanted to test my new mixer (not the high power KitchenAid) to see if I can knead dough with it. Well, it's not supposed to be able to take the kind of constant kneading stress. I read the manual, it says to stop for a while after constant usage for 5 mins. Bearing that in mind, I gave the machine a few stops intermittently to ensure it did not die from overheating. It wasn't performing very well and was a little shaky when the dough passed through the hooks. Maybe really a little too much for the machine to handle though it was a small dough. So I ended up hand kneading the bread after about 10 mins.

There was another uncertainty. I wasn't sure if the yeast is still working. I had mixed a little yeast with warm water a few days ago to test if it's still viable. No bubbling. I was wondering if the yeast is dead. But I decided to take the risk to test it out rather than guessing. I was very relieved when I see the dough rising.



The recipe was from a new bread book which Gina had bought back for me, all the way from Hong Kong. Thanks Gina! I love the book! The author, who is also a mother, loves to make bread for her girl. The good thing about her recipe is, the portion is small, very suitable for small family consumption. So will have more excuses to make bread...lol...

If you're thinking the idea of using seaweed to decorate bread is fantastic, the credit goes to the author. The pictures were cut using paper cutter (which I got from Popular). I was immediately sold when I saw her pictures and just had to try them. The bread tasted fine, but the luncheon I had used (I used SPAM Cheese Luncheon) was too salty, or maybe I had been too generous to put a big piece in each bun.



If you love bread, give this a try. The dough is manageable and not too wet.

Luncheon Bun

Ingredients
195g bread flour
3g instant yeast
100g warm water
18g egg (leave remaining for egg wash)
15g sugar
2g salt
15g butter
9 pieces of luncheon meat
a few slices of ready-to-eat nori

Method
1. Combine all ingredients (except butter) to form a dough.
2. Transfer to working top and knead until dough is smooth.
3. Add butter and continue kneading until membrane stage.
4. Roll dough into ball and leave, covered, in a greased bowl for proofing (about 45 mins) to double its size.
5. When proofing is done, divide dough into 9 portions. Roll into balls and leave, covered, for 10 mins.
6. Knead each ball into teardrop shape. Roll out dough thinly.
7. Place a luncheon meat at the wider end. Roll up the dough with closing edge facing downwards.
8. Place dough on lined baking tray, covered, for second proofing.
9. When dough has risen to twice its original size, brush surface gently with egg wash.
10. Stick on nori as decoration. Bake in preheated oven at 180°C for 14-18 mins (my oven requires 25 mins).


Mood: happy

Does your cake pop?

In case you're wondering what has happened to this royal maid, not to worry, I'm still alive and kicking, which I think is a good sign. :)

I haven't really stopped all my cooking and baking and devoted my life to just housework. Neither do I intend to stop blogging (hey, this is one of the few ways to keep my sanity, so don't rob me of that). But you'll probably be expecting more of such lengthy consolidations once in a blue moon as I sneaked some time to put all the backlogs up.

I am browsing through the stack of pictures in my camera to recall what are in my backlog list and found this, one of the earlier pictures. Can you make out what they are?



Lol...to tell the truth, I don't have a name for them. These are just modifications of a dish my ex-helper did for the children one fine day when I wasn't around. I didn't even have a recipe to begin with. She just told me what she did and I used my imagination to make this up. I guess the closest match I can think of is probably Begedil. It's basically a mixture of mashed potatoes, egg, corn flour, mixed herbs and some seasoning. The mixed herbs really added a touch to the patties.

Next I found this, my favourite Bacon & Beef rolls. Did them for dinner one of the nights. They really cost quite a bit (over $17) for a single dish, so it's one of those "once in a blue moon" dish in my recipe.



Did sushi (consisting of egg mayo, japanese cucumber, carrot shreds, chicken floss and red dragon fruit) on Sat for lunch.



And the Grand Finale today is Royal Prince's birthday. Royal Prince turned 9 this September. I didn't had much proper planning this year (not that I had any in previous years) as everything was decided rather last minute. Did these for his "goodies bag" this year (sorry kids, aunty only have time to make one for each of you, a little ermm....small, but hope you all like them as much as my kiddies do).



In case you're wondering if they're lollipops, nope, they're not. I first get to know these cake pops from Bakerella. I thought it was a real cool idea and had put them down on my to-do-list. It wasn't really too difficult, just time consuming. But once you get the hang of it, it gets easier.

I chose to bake a Nutella Cake (omitting the nuts) as the cake base for this project.





This was the first time I baked this cake, pretty daring, I know, for a "can't afford to fail" mission. Luckily this was quite an easy recipe to follow and the cake turned out fine though the top looked a little burnt. Not one of my favourite though as I prefer moist cake. This is more of a fluffy kind of cake, perfectly right for cake pop.

After the cake cooled down, the next step was to crumble it up and mixed with cream cheese frosting. Don't ask me how much frosting I had used, I just mixed it with the cake crumbs till the mixture can be shaped into a ball without falling apart (a little dough-like in texture) and store the cake balls overnight in the fridge.

The decoration of the cake pops started out rather challenging. I need to insert a lollipop stick into each cake ball and dip it in chocolate before decorating. Almost didn't make it with the numerous hiccups. Firstly, the cake balls were too soft. When the lollipop sticks were inserted, some of the balls fell apart! Those that managed to stay ended up cracking when I tried to dip them in the coating. Then the coating wasn't of the right consistency. I was using Wilton Candy Melt and it was far too thick to be "coatable". So I had to start adding cooking oil into it to dilute the coating (learnt this trick from one of the comments in Bakerella's blog). I told Royal Prince that if I can't get it right, he may have no goodies bags to give to his class. You should've seen the un-hidable disappointment in him.

Well, he didn't have to be disappointed for too long. Finally I found a way out. The trick is to freeze the balls for about 15-20 mins, stick the pop stick into the harden balls, dip into the coating and quickly add on the decorations. You can't wait for too long to add the decorations. The candy melt set rather quickly when in contact with the cold balls. I didn't have time to do complicated decorations, had to settle for the simplest.



Packed and ready to go


The cake pops tasted great. After mixing with the cream cheese frosting, it tasted very much like non-baked cheesecake. Together with the peanut butter candy melt, it is definitely a yummy treat (I'll go without the colored beads if not for the look). You can try this if you need some ideas for kids party.

I think this entry is getting a little too long. So I shall post the birthday cake in the next entry. Keep a lookout for it and thanks for reading.


Mood: pleased

Happy Teacher's Day...erm...a bit late

I'm behind for my posts again. Seems to be becoming a habit, a bad one indeed, coz I'll start to have lots of backlogs.

I did this on one of the nights for dinner last week - baked noodles.



The recipe was taken from KC. It was very nice, every time I think of it I feel like making it again. I've added quite a bit of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and a pack of instant noodles seasoning to toss with the noodles.

Before the cheese is in...


I think I might have added too little cheese (though I swear I've covered every corner of the ingredients with the cheese), the end result wasn't as pretty as what Gina had posted. But nonetheless, it was still very good.


Last Wed, I baked some cuppies for the kids to bring to their teachers on Thur for Teacher's Day. Did my favourite Lime Cream Cheese Cupcakes and tried another great recipe from the "Easy Stir 'n Bake Cakes" by Kevin Chai.

Orange and Carrot Cupcakes


My estimation this round was better than my previous attempts of cupcakes, the end products ended up taller. I was quite pleased with them indeed.

Cuppies waiting to be baked


As usual, I have this weakness for citrus stuff. This orange carrot combination turned out another great keeper, moist and absolutely aromatic. I've reduced the amount of sugar in the original recipe and the sweetness is just nice!



I had wanted to frost the cupcakes to make them real pretty, but decided against the idea. I don't think I can depend on the kids to deliver the cuppies to their teachers in a mess-free manner, so better be safe than be sorry. So nothing fanciful this year, sorry, teachers.




Mood: satisfied

Steamed Tofu

This was modified from a recipe in another of my newly bought book on steamed dishes. I love steamed dishes as they can be prepared ahead, they're mostly simple and healthy.



I love Tofu, but I have really limited ways to cook them nicely. My tofu dishes always ended up the same old thing. So this can add on to my limited collection.

Streamed Tofu

Ingredients
Silken tofu (300g + 250g pack)
Fish paste (I used half pack of Dodo Saito Fish Paste)
1 tbsp Light soy sauce
Shallots for garnishing

Method
1. Cut tofu into serving size and lay on oiled steaming plate.
2. Spread a think layer of fish paste on each tofu.
3. Drizzle some oil (I use for fried garlic oil) and soya sauce on top.
4. Steam over medium heat for 7 mins. Scatter fried shallots on top generously. Serve hot.


Mood: Love it!

Finally back

My PC is finally up and running. Do you miss me?

The first dish I present to you after my return is a western style Beer Chicken.



Beer Chicken

Ingredients

6 pieces Chicken drumsticks/wings
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 small can button mushroom
1 can beer
1 carrot
2 potatoes

Method
1. Cut carrot and potato into chunks.
2. Fry onion and garlic till fragrant. Add in carrot and potatoes to stir fry for 1-2 minutes before adding in the chickens.
3. Add the button mushroom (including the mushroom water in the can), the Cream of Chicken soup and the beer into the chicken and mix well.
4. Bring to a boil and lower the heat. Simmer for 30 minutes. Serve hot.



This is a very simple dish to prepare. The beer after taste, though not dominant, is present in the dish.


Mood: happy

Eggless Orange Cupcakes

Too busy but want to cook up something simple and nice? Try this.

Pan fry herbal fillets


I'm in the midst of exam fever (not mine, but ds's). I've lost all mood to cook elaborate stuff. Everything has to be kept as simple as possible. So I cook these for lunch today. These are really simple yet delicious. So simple that there isn't even a recipe to talk about. Just get some dory fillets from supermarket. Season both sides with a little garlic salt and mixed herbs and pan fry them till a little brown. Before serving, squeeze juice from a wedge of lemon over the fillets. Can't be simpler, right?

Stress has got this wonderful powder to dampen your mood or the other way round. I've got this dying urge to bake something, just anything. I know I won't have time to do the long winded bread, so I decided on cake. Then I realised I've run out of eggs! Oh my! Did some search and found this in KC.

Eggless Orange Cupcake


The original recipe was a buttercake. I just change it to cuppies and added a little orange zest to them. This was the first time I baked and ate eggless cake, so I wasn't too sure what to expect. But they were not bad, not bad at all! Soft and moist and not too sweet. I think the next round I'll add some lemon juice to them to have a little more tangy sensation!



Eggless Orange Cupcakes
Yields 13

Ingredients

Sieve the following ingredients together twice:
2 cups plain flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 & 1/2 tsp baking powder

100g butter, room temperature
3/4 cup icing sugar
3/4 cup evaporated milk
200 ml freshly squeezed orange juice, unsifted (about 3 mid-size oranges)
Zest from 1 orange

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 170°C.
2. Cream sugar and butter till light and fluffy.
3. Add milk and orange juice to mix. (Note: My butter was separated from the liquid after mixing.)
4. Fold in flour mixture and orange zest using a fork/spatula until well combine.
5. Fill each cup to 80% full and bake for 25-30 mins.


Mood: stressed

Lion's Head

This is what I've done up for lunch today.

Lion's Head (红烧狮子头)


It's a fairly simple dish to prepare, but absolutely enjoyable. The trick in getting tasty Lion's Head is to use meat with fats. Lean meat does not work well with this dish.

Lion's Head (红烧狮子头)

Ingredients

370g minced pork
25g spring onion, chopped
110g water chestnut, chopped (about 5-6 water chestnuts)
2 cloves garlic, minced

Seasoning A
1 tbsp rice wine
1 & 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 & 1/2 tbsp cornflour
1 egg, lightly beaten
dash of pepper

Seasoning B
1/2 tbsp rice wine
1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce (suggest to reduce to 1 tsp)
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 cup water

Method
1. Mix minced pork, spring onion and water chestnut with seasoning A. Leave it for half an hour to season.
2. Form the minced pork mixture into large meatballs (I made about 8). Fry in oil till golden brown. Dish out and set aside.
3. Remove excess oil from the wok and left about 2 tbsp of oil. Fry the garlic till fragrant. Add seasoning B into the wok and bring to a boil.
4. Add in the meatballs and simmer for a few minutes. Thicken the sauce with cornstarch before serving.

Note:
Traditionally, Lion's Head is cooked and served with vegetables like Peking cabbage. If you wish to add that, add the vegetables to simmer after step 3.


Mood: full

Miso Yong Tau Foo

Recently I bought a small box of miso paste from Cold Storage. All along I only know of miso soup, but never thought miso can be used for other cooking as well. It was a book I recently borrowed from the library that opened my eyes to the world of miso.

I started using miso to replace the sea salt and soy sauce in cooking. It makes sense since miso has loads of benefits to begin with. Miso adds flavour to your stir fry vegetables. You don't need additional seasoning.



Today I added a bit to the Yong Tau Foo I cooked. It tasted really good. If you have miso on hand, give it a try too.

Miso Yong Tau Foo

Ingredients
20 pieces of assorted Yong Tau Foo
1 tsp plum sauce
1 tsp white miso paste
1 tsp sugar
3/4 bowl water
2 clove garlic, chopped

Method
1. Heat up 2 tbsp oil in a wok. Fry garlic till fragrant.
2. Add the Yong Tau Foo pieces and stir fry for 1-2 mins.
3. Mix plum sauce and sugar with the water. Pour the mixture into the Yong Tau Foo and simmer for 5 mins, stirring occasionally.
4. Off the heat and stir in the miso until it dissolves in the sauce. Serve with hot rice.

Note:
Rei gave me a very useful tip on miso. To reserve its nutritional benefits, stir in the miso only after you have off the heat. So I've amended the above recipe.

Learn something new again today. Thanks Rei! :)


Mood: pleased