Thursday, August 27, 2009

Ku Low Yok



Cook it as a dish or for a one-dish meal... Can be replaced by chicken meat

Ingredients:
300g pork (wu hua rou) (Pound with back of chopper before cutting into cubes)
oil for deep frying
corn flour for coating
1 green capsicum, cut into small pieces
1 tomato, cut into wedges
1 onion, quartered
a quarter pineapple, cut into pieces

Marinade pork in:
1 egg
1 tbsp shaoxing wine
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (helps to tenderize the meat)
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp water

Sauce:
1 tbsp plum sauce
3 tbsp tomato sauce
1 tbsp chilli sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp white rice vinegar
100ml of water

Method:
1) Coat marinate cubed pork in corn flour.
2) Deep fry pork till golden brown. Dish up & drain. Set aside.
3) In another frying pan, heat a tbsp of oil. Stir fry onion till fragrant. Add capsicum, tomatoes & pineapple. Pour in sauce & cook until it thickens.
4) Add in fried pork & mix well. Dish up & Serve.

Fish & Chips



Recipe for Fish & Chips (Serves 2)
Ingredients:
2 fish filet, defrozed (those frozen types- Dory fish, etc)
1 egg
some Tuscan seasoning (abt 1 tsp)
a plate of breadcrumbs
Method:
1) In a plate, add Tuscan seasoning to an egg. Beat.
2) Coat fish well in the egg mixture.
3) Coat the fish with the plate of breadcrumbs. Coat well.
4) Heat oil in wok for deep frying.
5) Slowly slide the fish into the oil and fry till golden. Then flip to the other side.
6) Drain excess oil from the fish using kitchen paper.
7) Serve with chips & salad/coleslaw.

To prepare Fish & Chips served with Soup in 45mins.
1) Take fish out of fridge. Rinse it with water. Remove & place on a plate for defrozing.
2) Pour a can of Cambell soup together with a can of water into a pot. Add fresh mushrooms if desired. Put soup to boil.
3) While waiting for soup to boil, cut mushroom for soup & vegetables to prepare for salad.
4) Meanwhile, heat oil for frying in a wok. When oil is ready, fry frozen fries.
5) While fries are frying, prepare the fish (refer to recipe on top).
Tips:
1) If preparing for dinner, take the fish out from freezer & place in the fridge in the morning.
2) To check if oil is ready for deep frying, put the tip of a wooden chopstick into the oil. Oil i ready for frying if there are a lot of small air bubbles. Be careful not overheat the oil though.
3) To drain off the excess oil, use paper towels.
4) To keep the fries warm & crisp while frying the fish, put it in the oven with low heat.

Steamed Toufu With This & That

One of our favourite dish- Steam Toufu.
Simple & Tasty, a 10 minutes dish.


Steam Toufu


Steamed Toufu Steam Toufu with Beansprouts


Steamed Toufu with CaiXin


Steamed Egg Toufu with Golden Straw Mushroom

The sauce is the same, just change the combination & u'll get different dishes :)

Ingredients:
1 packet of toufu suitable for steaming
pre-fried shallots (Pre-requisite: Deepfry some shallots beforehand.
Home fry taste much better. Store & use as when needed)
spring onions (for garnishing)

(B) For sauce
100ml of water
1 tbsp of oyster sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
some chicken stock granules

Method
1) Place toufu on a plate & steam for 10 mins. Drain away excess water.
2) In a small saucepan, bring to boil (B).
3) Put fried shallots & spring onion on top of the steamed toufu.
Slowly & gently pour the hot sauce over the garnished toufu.
4) Serve immediately.

To serve with vegetables/ Mushroom,
boil a pot of water, cook the vegetables/ mushroom.
Drain & place on a plate.
Place the steam toufu on top.
Garnish & pour hot sauce over.

Alternatively, you may want to steam the vegetables & toufu together.

Teriyaki Chicken

My first attempt at Baked Teriyaki Chicken using Kikkoman Teriyaki Marinade/Sauce. This was so yummy. Chicken flesh was really fragrant & tender. Hubby couldnt get enough of it & complained that 1 was not enough!

Baked Teriyaki Chicken with Kikkoman Teriyaki Marinade
Served with Whipped Potato & Vegetable Salad

Just to fulfil my hubby's craving & appetite, I baked them again. This time, 2 chicken legs for him! I baked at 160 degrees & the skin chars a bit. So should stick to 140 degrees.

Recipe for Teriyaki Chicken using Kikkoman Merinade/Sauce

1) Marinade 2 chicken legs with Kikoman Teriyaki marinade overnight. Be generous with the marinade (maybe about 5 tbsp).

2) Preheat the oven to 140 degrees/low heat. Place chicken on baking tray with skin side down.

3) Bake for 15-20 mins. Brush some remaining marinade before turning chicken to the other side.

4) Repeat the brushing of marinade after 5 mins.

5) Continue baking until chicken is cooked. Use skewer to prick the flesh & check.

Pan Fried Teriyaki Chicken in a burger (with own Teriyaki Sauce)



This time tried to make my own Teriyaki Sauce. And instead of baking, use stir fry instead.
Hubby still love it. Seems like he couldn't get enough of Teriyaki Chicken :P

Ingredients:
2 chicken thighs with skin (boneless)
3 tbsp mirin
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tsp sugar
1 tbsp oil

Method:
1) Remove excess fats from the chicken thigh. Marinade chicken thighs with mirin, soy sauce & sugar for at least 30 mins. I left them overnight as the burgers are for breakfast :)
2) Remove chicken thighs from marinade. Leave the marinade aside. Add 3 tbps of water to the remaining marinade.
3) Heat oil in pan & place thigh with skin side down. Turn over when browned.
4) When chicken is cooked, pour the marinade sauce (from (2)) into the pan over the chicken & cook till sauce thickens.
5) Teriyaki Chicken Thighs ready to be served in whatever manner (burger, Bento, Western style, etc).

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Cooking Up A Storm in the Kitchen

Have been busy experimenting in the kitchen the past few weeks. These are the foods of my labour. Some great, some okay, some really need major improvements. Now, looking at these pictures make me hungry. Perhaps it's time to prepare dinner now...






Will post more recipes soon so anyone interested can also try them @ home :)

Sheryl's Chocolate Chips Cookies For Orders & Sales

Yap, I'm taking orders for the Chocolate Chips Cookies. I do enjoy baking them & am pleased when someone enjoys eating them too :) There's only so much that my hubby & I can eat...

Here's what people said about the cookies...
"I can't stop eating them..."
" They're really addictive..."
"They're sinfully delicious..."
"I've never tasted cookies quite like this..."
"They're better than F...... A..."
"What's your secret ingredient?"
" I think about them even during this 'merlioning' period..." (from a pregnant fren who has serious morning sickness)
" You can sell them..." (which I'm trying to do now :P)
"I hope 3 large jars will last me for a week..." (Really makes me wonder how this slim & petite lady keeps her figure... if she can finish 3 jars on her own... & in a week??? I'm jealous!)



Presenting Sheryl's Chocolate Chips Cookies (bitesize) available in the following:

A dozen in a pack $2
Small Jar: 500ml glass jar $8
Medium Jar: 1000ml glass jar $15
Large Jar: 1500ml glass jar $20

Really like to keep the cookies in these glass jars as they're airtight & help keep the cookies stay crispy.

This was my 1st order of cookies that I took over 3 days to bake :)
Looking forward to more orders to keep myself busy...

Ingredients & materials used in the production are all halal.
I only bake to order :) meaning I only bake them when I have the orders.
This is to ensure that your cookies are baked fresh & u get to eat them fresh.

Email your orders & enquiries to cookiss007@gmail.com.

Meanwhile, I'll go on the search for the perfect melt-in-your-mouth butter cookie ...

Sheryl's Chocolate Chips Cookies


I like to think I'm famous for my Chocolate Chips Cookies in school :P (Shameless!)

It started off when C baked some & gave it to me. It started a craving in me & I started to look for the perfect recipe and experiment with the ingredients to get the cookies that tasted just right. I began baking & giving out to colleagues & recieved a lot of positive feedback :)

During a fund raising activity in 2007, I offered to bake them for sale. Ended up baking for over 3 days with the help of at least 3 other teachers for an order of about 50 jars of cookies. After that overdose of cocoa, I don't really eat my chcocolate chips cookies now :P

Now, I still bake them occasionally to give to relatives & friends who thankfully still love the cookies. Since I'm on leave now, baking helps me to occupy my time. And I'm thankful for the orders for the cookies cos there's only so much my hubby & I can eat. Hubby is not much of a cookie monster & I'm trying not to put on too much weight :P

Anyway, here's the original recipe for the Chocolate Chips Cookies for those who would like to try baking them on their own. This is not my final version though :P. I'm taking orders for the cookies & aspire to open up my own "Cookiss" shop :P

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
(A)
100g sugar
100g brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
100g butter
60 g magarine
1 tsp liquid glucose
(B)
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
(c)
200g flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
(D)
100g chocolate chips

Method:
1. Cream A lightly. Add (B) & cream till smooth.
2. Add in sieved (C) & mix well.
3. Add (D) & mix well.
4. Drop spoonfuls of the dough onto a baking sheet.
5. Bake at 180 degress for 15-18 mins.
* Cool the cookies on a cooling rack before storing them.

Do let me know if you've tried out the recipe and whether this is better from mine :)

Yummy Chicken Pie

Yesterday tried to make some chicken pies with shortcrust pastry. Had borrowed a book about pies from NLB & got the recipe for making the crust there. Really didn't know how the crust would turn out. Would it be soggy or too hard?

Turned out to be crispy & just nice, just like the chicken pie from Prima Deli. Hubby loved it so much that he robbed my share before I could finish it!

Here's the recipe to share. Do let me know if you've tried it out :)

Recipe for chicken Pies (Makes 4 4-inch/10cm round pie bowls)



Shortcrust Pastry:
Ingredients:
200g flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp icing/fine sugar
1 beaten egg
1 tsp lemon juice
100g butter (cut into small pieces & frozen)
some ice water


Method:
1. Sift flour into a medium size mixing bowl. Mix in the salt & sugar.
2. Put the frozen pieces of butter into the mixing bowl. (pic above)
3. Use a fork to cut in the butter into the flour. Avoid using hands to prevent butter from melting. Continue until mixture resembles small bread crumbs.
4. Make a well in the centre of the mixture & slowly pour in 1/2 of egg. Use fork to mix the mixture. Slowly add in the remaining egg and until there's enough liquid to form a dough. If it's still dry, add in tsp of ice water. Once a dough is formed, lightly knead it into a ball and wrap it using cling warp & put in fridge for at least 30 mins before rolling it out and laying on the pie pans.

Chicken Pie Filling
Ingredients:
1 tbsp of olive oil
1 big pink onion , diced
100ml of water
1 large potato, cut into small cubes
1 can of Campbell Soup (Cream of Mushroom)
300g of chicken meat, cut into small pieces
1 stalk of celery, cut into small pieces
a handful of frozen mixed vegetables (green bean, carrot & corn mix)
canned button mushrooms (cut into slices/ quartered)
pepper

Method:
1. Heat oil in wok and put in the onion. Fry till fragrant and pour in the water.
2. Put in the potatotes and let it boil before pouring in the campbell soup.
3. Mix well and put in the chicken meat.
4. Let it boil before putting in the celery, mixed vegetables & canned mushroom.
5. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.
6. Add pepper to taste.
7. Cool the chicken filling before putting onto pie tray lined with pastry. (Best if filling is fridge cold.)

Making the pie
1. Take out the fridge cold dough. Prepare work station to roll out the dough. Lightly flour your hands, the surface for rolling & the rolling pin.
2. Take a ball of dough (about the size of a golfball & roll out. Turning the dough 90 degrees, every 2 rolls. Roll till u get a thickness of roughly 3mm & enough to lay the pie bowl. Roll out 4 pieces. Lay the pie bowl with the rolled out dough, pressing the sides flat, leaving about 1cm extra over the edge of the bowl. Cut out the excess using a pair of scissors.
3. Roll out another 4 pieces that will cover the top of the pies, slightly bigger (about 1cm).
4. Scoop the cold chicken filling into the 4 pie bowls, then cover with pastry crust (3).
5. Fold in the edges of the top crust with the bowl crust. Use a fork to press down the sides all around to seal the pie & give it a nice edge.
6. Use a fork to poke holes on the top of the pies. This will release the steam from the filling when baking.
7. You can roll out the leftover dough and use a cookie cutter and cut into shapes to decorate the tops of the pies.
8. Brush the top with a beaten egg to give it a nice golden brown when baked.
9. Place pies on a preheat baking tray and bake in a preheat oven @180-200 degrees for 30minutes or until the top has turned a nice golden brown.
10. Let it rest for 5 mins & serve pies while hot. Yummy!
Storing Chicken Pies
Let the pies cool before putting them in a container, then into the fridge.
From the fridge, bake cold pies in a preheat oven of 180 degrees for 20 mins before serving.
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