Chicken Quesadilla

I love Mexican food.  My family love Mexican food.  Base case, we love food that has cheese and tomatoes. 

It was a lazy Saturday last week and I was feeling a bit under the weather.  Really wasn't up to cooking dinner but hey, I have three hungry mouths to feed.  Thought of eating out but lazy to drive. I tell you, I was feeling extremely lazy on that day!  All I wanted to do was sleep...well! 

Anyway, in the end, decided to make a simple dinner.  Since I have a pack of ready made wraps in my little pantry, I made the simplest dinner ever...Chicken Quesadilla.  I didn't really follow any recipe, just throw in some chicken, onion, capsicum, cheese and that's it.

It's light but yet filling.  Most importantly, I don't have to sweat it out over the stove!

Serves 4:

2 pieces chicken breast, cut into strips

1 large yellow onion, cut into rings

1 large capsicum, cut into small squares

a few sprigs cilantro, chopped

cheddar cheese

8 wraps

1. Marinate the chicken with salt, pepper and barbecue sauce.

2. Heat olive oil in a frying pan, fry the onion, add in chicken breast and stir for a few minutes.

3. Add in capsicum and cook until chicken is done.  Set aside.

4. In another non-stick frying pan, heat the wraps (without oil).  Spoon the chicken mixture onto the wraps (while it's being heated), sprinkle cheese on top and lastly cilantro.  Cover with another piece of wrap and carefully, turn it over until the wrap is crispy.

5. Take it off heat, cut into quarters and serve immediately.

You can serve this with guacamole or sour cream.

Buttermilk Pancakes with Mixed Berry Compote

I've been neglecting my blog lately due to hectic schedule.  Never a dull moment for me that's for sure.  Not only have I been 'inactive' in blogging but I'm guilty for not visiting your blogs as well.  Not that I don't want to but more of being caught in the rat race.

Today, I make a point to share with you another pancake recipe.  Made this for breakfast but if you have leftovers, you can have it as desserts by just topping it up with ice cream.

The mixed berry compote, is made from the berries that I grow in my garden - Mulberry and Acerola Cherry. I only have one plant each, so you can imagine it takes time to collect the berries and freeze them.  I have enough to make this compote for breakfast this morning.  The strawberries were bought during my last vacation at the Cameron Highlands in June which I froze.

Mulberry

Acerola Cherry

Pancake recipe:
4 servings
150g plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 egg
250ml buttermilk
2tbsp butter, melted

1. Sift the dry ingredient into a bowl add sugar.
2. Whisk the eggs until frothy, add in buttermilk and melted butter.
3. Whisk the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and mix well.
4. Heat non stick pan, lightly coated with vegetable oil, drop big spoonful of batter and cook till both sides are done.
Serve with honey or with mixed berry compote.

Mixed Berry Compote:
Mulberry (1/3 cup)
Acerola Cherry (1/3 cup)
Strawberry (1/2 cup)
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice

Mix all ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over low-medium heat until sugar is dissolved and reduced.
Keep warm.

Homemade Chicken Pie

One of the long lists of things to make, is the homemade chicken pie.  Mmm..mmm.. so yummey!

But I have to admit that I cheated.  Cheated on the pastry. Hah! One thing that I am lazy with is making pastries and breads.  If you ever find me making those, then I'm in one of those rare moods to want to make  it.  So as I'm very lazy as usual, I used the frozen pastry puffs.  It worked, didn't it?  And most importantly, it tasted good and my family enjoyed it.

The filling is my own recipe.  You can have it a bit spicy if you like by adding curry powder or if you like it creamy, use cream and milk etc.  I like mine to be neither.  More like stew type.

 For the filling, you will need:
2 pieces of chicken breasts
1 big onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
1 can button mushrooms, sliced
1 small floret cauliflower, cut into small chunks
1 small can of green peas, drained
2 tbsp butter
dash of olive oil
1/4 cup water
salt and pepper
worchestershire sauce
white wine vinegar
dash of sugar

Store bought frozen pastry puff, thawed at room temperature
1 egg wash for pastry

Pre heat oven to 180dC.
1. Heat a saucepan with some olive oil and butter.  Add onion and fry till soft.  Add chicken and fry till chicken to half cooked.
2. Add in cauliflower and celery, add water and cover for 1 min.  Add in mushroom and green pea.
3. Add in salt, pepper, worchestershire sauce and white wine vinegar.  Cover and simmer for 2 mins.  Add in sugar to taste.
4. Once chicken is cooked and vegetables are soft, take off heat and let cool.
5. Line disposable pie foil with puff pastry if you like.  (You can omit this and just place the pastry on top to cover.)
6. Add in the filling and cover with puff pastry.  Brush with egg wash and place on baking tray and bake till pastry is puffed and golden.

Serve immediately.

Toad-in-the-Hole and Banana Blueberry Pancake

This is it!  The time has come to say Goodbye to 2012.

It has been a mixture of pleasant and bitter-sweet journey with quite a bit of adjustments made along the way.  Colleagues of many years who became close friends, left with fond memories and new ones came along who can't quite fill that void.  Learning about the passing of an old colleague which left me shocked and sad.  Having said that, there were sweet moments where friends welcomed their first born into this world. We've had our big family reunion and holiday together.  Most recently, met a friend who I have not seen for 26 years!  It was so good to see her again.  Well, as the saying goes, 'life goes on' no matter what happens.

I feel so thankful that I have my wonderful loving family who are always there for me.  They are my pillar of strength. And a few good friends who are willing to go all out in helping a friend in need!  Life is priceless!

I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank you, yes, each and everyone of you, for your wonderful, wonderful scrumptious food, great recipes and of course, beautiful photos too.  Photos of your travels as well that brought me there and could just imagine what it's like to be there.  Getting to know you and becoming friends even though it's virtually to speak but nevertheless, I've enjoyed all your posts and can't wait to see what you have in store for me comes 2013!

This shall be my last post for 2012.  Hopefully I'll be able to entice you and hold your interest to many more wonderful recipes in 2013.

I've been on vacation for the past week and another week to go before I'm back to work..sigh! How boring!  Same thoughts with my kids as well when the school re-opens on Jan 2nd and the days will be back to routine.  No more late nights, no more going here and there shopping or visiting, no more playing till their hearts content.

Since I've been home, I get to at least prepare breakfast on some days.  Most days we go to a nearby coffee shop to have our breakfast until we got tired of noddles.  Here, I'm featuring two of the breakfast that I've prepared at home on two different days.  The first one is the 'Toad-in-the-Hole' and the other is 'Blueberry Banana Pancake'.

 Toad-in-the-hole

Toad-in-the-Hole

Slice of bread

1 egg

cheese slices

2 strips of bacon

1. Preheat oven to 180d C.  Pan fry the bacon streaks till half crispy.  Set aside.

2. Grease a muffin tray, place a slice of bread in the muffin hole and place a slice of cheese on top.

3. Break an egg on the cheese and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Line 2 strips of bacon on the eggs and bake till the egg is half cooked.

 Blueberry Banana Panckae

Blueberry Banana Pancake
(makes 12)
25g butter, melted
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup plain flour, sifted
1 tsp B.O.S.
1 tbsp caster sugar
1 banana, peeled and thinly sliced (you may use 2 bananas if you like more banana in the batter)
3/4 cup fresh blueberries
1 tbsp vegetable oil
maple syrup, for drizzling

 1. Place the egg, buttermilk and vanilla extract in a bowl and whisk together. Add the melted butter and stir to combine.
2. Place the flour, b.o.s. and sugar in another bowl and stir to combine. Add to the wet ingredients and stir well.
3. Add half of the banana and most of the blueberries and stir again to combine.
4. Heat the oil in a nonstick skillet and spoon in the batter; cook for 2 mins and once bubble appears, turn it over and cook till done.
5. To serve, sprinkle with the rest of the blueberries and bananas and sprinkle with maple syrup.

A Very Happy New Year to all.  Be safe, be happy and be merry!  Cheers!

My new year resolution....  to be more charitable to the ones in need especially young children and the old.

Blueberry Pancake

Finally, finally, I've got my pancakes thick and plump like the way it should be! All this, thanks to my daughter since she wanted some pancakes for breakfast, she took out her recipe book 'The Disney Magic Kitchen Cookbook' which she got as a present from my sis for Christmas last year and asked me if I could make some.  Since I like pancakes too, so okay, it's a deal!  Got some blueberry in the freezer plus a container of ice cream, the plan went well.  So, my quest looking for a good recipe for thick fluffy pancakes is over! Imagine, after so long searching through cookbooks, I never thought I would find the perfect recipe from a children cookbook! lol..lesson learnt, never judge a cookbook by it's cover!


I know for some of you, it's a breeze in getting your pancakes as thick or as thin as you want.  I, for one, like it thick but never got it as plump as this until now..so, I'm happy at last. 

 See how thick and plump they are...!

 And the texture is so light!  Drizzle some honey on it, mm..m..mm!

 Wanna have with some whipped cream? Why not?

How about with some ice-cream?  Ooo...goody...!

Recipe:
1 cup whole wheat or all-purpose flour
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 cup fat-free milk (I used full cream)
2 tbsp canola oil
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
2/3 cup frozen light whipped dessert topping, thawed
ice cream

1. Put flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon to mix, Save until step 3.
2. Beat the eggs in a medium bowl until the well mixed.  Add milk and oil to the egg, beat with the fork until ingredients are well mixed.
3. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture. Stir with the wooden spoon until the mixture is well and almost smooth. Gently stir in 1/2 cup of the blueberries and the walnuts.
4. Lightly coat the griddle or large skillet with some oil and on medium heat, pour about 1/4 cup of the batter onto the hot griddle or skillet. Cook until the pancakes have bubbly surface and the edges are dry.
6. Turn the pancakes over with the spatula and cook until bottom are golden brown. Remove from griddle or skillet and cover with foil to keep warm. Repeat until batter is finish.
7. Serve with honey, or whipped cream or ice cream or jam. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup blueberries on pancakes.

Makes 8 servings.

Shanghai Pancakes

Who love Shanghai Pancakes?  I know my family and I do.  Whenever there's Chinese Wedding dinner, sometimes the restaurant will serve Shanghai Pancakes with Creamy Almond or Peanut Soup as dessert.  The 'soup' is very thick and slightly sweetened.  It tastes absolutely delicious with these pancakes.  The pancakes has a very crispy thin crust with lovely layer of lotus paste filling.  We love eating it as it is, without the creamy almond soup.

I've never make these pancakes and I don't have the recipe for it either.  I cheated since I have the puff pastry in my freezer and some left over lotus paste.  I thought what can I do with it that is fast and with less hassle.  Hmm..Shanghai Pancake came to mind.  How hard can it be right, in making these pancakes?  Of course, since I cheated, it's very easy indeed...I just need to pan fry it and voila, it's done!  Here's how I cheated...as long as you have the puff pastry and lotus paste, you are good to go.

Take a sheet of puff pastry, give a generous slab of lotus paste on first half of the puff sheet, then fold the other half over it.  Press all sides to ensure it's 'secured' and shallow pan fry it to golden perfection.  While it's hot, cut it into strips of rectangles and serve immediately with a cup of hot tea! Wonderful tea-time snack for anyone! Lovely.

I foresee that in near future, I shall substitute the lotus paste with kaya (local coconut egg jam).  Yumzz.. can almost taste it already.

Pancakes with Fresh Bananas

Bananas! I do go bananas over bananas!  Bananas are good for you as they contain health properties in them which is good for you.  A banana a day keeps stress away! That is definitely true.  So, if you are stressed out, take a 5 and instead of munching on a kit kat, why not have a banana instead.  Not only it keeps you calm but it provides fibre to your body, energy and contains high potassium.

This morning, I made pancakes for breakfast and serve it with fresh bananas and honey.  My family love them!

Pancake:

250g plain flour

1/2tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

2tsp baking powder

50g melted butter

300ml milk

2 eggs lightly beaten

vegetable oil for frying

Mix all ingredients except the oil, and whisk till combine.

Heat frying pan, coated with a little oil, drop in big spoonful of batter and fry till bubbles appear, then flip over and fry till golden brown.

Serve with slices of fresh bananas and drizzle with generous amount of honey.

Fruit Tart

This is my first try at making fruit tartlets.  I'm surprised at how easy this is.  The recipe is taken from Michel Roux's 'Pastry' cookbook which my sis gave me for my birthday a few years back.  This recipe gave me an opportunity to use my newly purchased pastry molds.

The sweet pastry dough, also called Pate Sucree, can be made in advance and kept well wrapped in the fridge for several days or frozen for up to 3 weeks.  It's less fragile and has a tinge of sweetness.

 Pate Sucree:

250g flour

100g butter, cubes and slightly softened

100g icing sugar, sifted

pinch of salt

2 eggs, at room temperature

1. Put the flour in a mound on a work surface and make a well. Put in the butter, icing sugar and salt, mix these ingredients together with your fingertips.

2. Gradually draw the flour into the center and mix with you fingertips until the dough becomes slightly grainy.

3. Again, make a well and add the eggs. Work them into the flour, using your fingertips, until the dough begins to hold together.

4. When dough is well amalgamated, knead it a few times with the palm of your hands until smooth. Roll the dough into a ball, wrap in cling wrap and rest in the fridge for 1-2 hours before using.

5. When dough is rested, roll out on a lightly floured surface to 2-3mm thickness and line pastry cups and bake blind for 20 mins at 180d C.

*Bake blind: Prick the base of the pastry with a fork and line parchment papers on top by filling it with beans or rice.  Bake for 20 mins at 180d C and discard the parchment paper with the bean/rice in it. Bake for a further 5 mins for the color. Unmould the pastry and cool on wire rack.

One thing I love about fruit tarts is that you can use any fillings you like.  Filling can be fresh fruits, lemon curd, chocolate mousse, cream cheese or even ice cream.  Fill the tartlets just before serving to avoid the pastry from getting soggy.  As for this particular recipe that I did, I used Creme Patissiere.  Here's how you make it:

Filling: Creme Patissiere:

6 egg yolks

125g caster sugar

40g plain flour

500ml milk

1 vanilla pod, split lengthways

a little icing sugar or butter

1. Whish the yolks and one-third of the sugar together in a bowl to a ribbon consistency. Whisk in the flour thoroughly.

2. In a saucepan, heat the milk with the rest of the sugar and vanilla pod.

3. As soon as it comes to boil, pour it into the egg yolk mixture, stirring as you go. Return it to the pan and bring to boil over medium heat, stirring continuously with the whisk.

4. Let bubble for 2 mins then pour into a bowl.

5. Dust the creme patissiere with a veil of icing sugar to prevent skin from forming as it cools, or dot small flakes of butter all over the surface.

6. Once cold, it can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days. Remove the vanilla pod before using.

To assemble:  Spoon the filling into the pastry cups and top with your choice of fruits ie. peach in syrup, fruit cocktail, grapes, any type of berries etc.

See?  It's so easy to make and make such a delicious treat for your family!

And here's my mini-me little apprentice!!