Thai Red Curry Pork

I was tidying up my pantry last night and found this curry paste hidden there. Haha… sometimes when I go for grocery shopping I will buy whatever that catches my attention and keep in my pantry. Somehow I will totally forget about the stuffs that I bought. So, now is the time to “present” this hidden Thai Red Curry Paste.

Hoho...looks yummy!!!

Ingredients

300g of pork
2tbsp of Thai Red Curry Paste
4tbsp of coconut powder (mixed with 80ml water)
100g of veggie mixed
100g of long beans, sliced
50g of baby spinach leaves


What to do

(1) Slice the pork into cubes.

(2) Heat up the curry paste in a pot with coconut mixture. Stir gently till paste bubbles a little. Add pork and stir fry for around 5 minutes. Add in vege mixed and long beans. Cover and cook for 15 minutes.

(3) Add in baby spinach leaves and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Serve with rice.

Multigrain Bread

I had bought a pack of multigrain bread flour as multigrain or wholemeal bread is delicious and perfect for a healthy lifestyle. I like multigrain bread loaf because of the combination of oats, toasted cracked wheat and flax meal. They taste just like muesli or rolled oat. I noticed that not many people like to eat multigrain bread compared to white bread. Multigrain or wholemeal bread are healthier than white bread loaf though. Hence, you should give it a try on this recipe. It is not complicated. Easy! = )

Ingredients

(A)

300g multigrain bread flour
35g brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

(B)
1tsp yeast
170ml milk

(C)14g olive oil

What to do

(1) Combine ingredient (A) in a mixer and mix well. Add in ingredient (B) and beat till dough is formed. Add in ingredient (C) and beat till dough is smooth and elastic.

(2) Leave the kneaded dough in a big bowl, covered with cling wrap. Let it ferments for about 60 minutes or until the dough is double it size.

(3) Take out the dough from the bowl and punch out the air.

(4) Roll the dough into a ball and place on the baking pan.

(5) Cover with cling wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes or until the bun is double it size again.

(6) Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degree for 15 minutes.

Homemade Pizza

Pizza Pizza Pizza!!! Who don’t like pizza??? Everybody loves pizza (I think, at least all of my friends they do), except my hubby. = (

My aunty who stays in KL did teach me how to make pizza few years ago when I was studying in Cyberjaya. Well, it was difficult for me to do the pizza base. I tried once with failure (few years back). Since then I have never tried to bake pizza until now…

I had done some researching in the internet and try to learn the ways of making the base. I found that it is not hard at all! It is almost the same like making bread dough. Hmm…I must be very lousy previously. Haha…

I also found that we can make the pizza sauce ourselves which only require a few ingredients. So, for this pizza, I made the base and the sauce myself. I am very satisfied with the result. ^-^

Pizza dough

Ingredients

7g dry yeast
8g sugar

180ml lukewarm water
40ml olive oil

350g plain flour

11/2 tsp salt

What to do

(1) Stir yeast, sugar and 40ml of the water together in a small bowl until well combined. Cover and leave the yeast mixture for about 30 minutes or until it is bubbling and foamy.

(2) Add oil and remaining water to the bowl with the yeast mixture and stir together.

(3) Stir flour and salt together in a large bowl until well combined. Make a well in the center and pour in the yeast mixture. Combine using a spoon then use your hands to bring the dough together.

(4) Use your hand to transfer the mixture to a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough for 5 minutes until the dough should become smooth and elastic.

(5) Place dough in a large oiled bowl and turn dough to coat with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap then a clean tea towel. Put bowl in a warm place until dough has doubled in size, about 2 hours.

(6) Punch down the dough and knead for a couple of minutes. Divide the dough into two balls. Press each dough ball out flat and using a floured rolling pin, shape into a 25-30 cm (10-12 inch) diameter circle. Using your knuckles, press just inside the edge to raise them slightly. Leave to rest for 10-15 minutes. Preheat oven to 230 degree.

(7) Top with pizza sauce and toppings of your choice. Cook in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until crispy and golden and the base is cooked.

Pizza sauce

Ingredients

1 small onion, peeled and finely diced
20ml olive oil
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
405g can diced Italian tomatoes paste
4g brown sugar
1/2 tsp dried oregano
Salt and pepper

What to do

(1) Heat oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes or until tender. Add tomatoes, brown sugar, a good pinch of salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon for 7 minutes or until sauce comes to the boil.

(2) Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 10 minutes or until sauce thickens. Spoon into a food processor and process until smooth. Stir in oregano.

Oh ya, my homemade pizza toppings are very simple. I used pineapple (can), green capsicum (sliced), grated mozzarella cheese and some sliced ham that I got in my fridge. I will definitely make this pizza again but with different topping. I already have some toppings ideas for my next homemade pizza. = D

Easy Pancake

I have wanted to try this recipe for some time. I grabbed this easy recipe from Coles (supermarket) few weeks ago and now finally I made it. I prepared the pancake batter the night before so that the next morning I can just get it from the fridge and cook a batch of pancakes for breakfast. Fast and easy!!!

Ingredients (makes 6-7)

150g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking power
1tbs caster sugar
250ml milk
1 egg, lightly whisked
Butter, for cooking


What to do

(1) Sift flour into a bowl. Add sugar and baking powder and stir well. Add in milk, and egg. Whisk until well combined.

(2) Brush two small non-stick frying pans with a little of the extra melted butter. Heat over medium heat. Add 1/3 cup of mixture to each pan. Cook for 2 minutes, or until bubbles appear on the surface. Carefully turn over and cook for 1 minute.

(3) Transfer pancakes to a plate and wrap loosely in a clean tea towel to keep warm. Repeat with remaining batter, greasing pan between each batch. If you find the pan is getting too hot, reduce heat slightly.

(4) Serve warm with sliced strawberries / banana and honey.

Peanut Butter Cupcake

Peanut Butter!!! Yay, I think most people likes peanut butter. There are a lot of ways to use peanut butter. The simplest way is to just spread it on bread. I am going to use it to bake a cupcake instead.

This recipe was taken from the internet. Hmm…not sure which website because I forgot the link. Anyway, thanks for to person who shared this recipe as it is really delicious!

However, I had modified some of the ingredients as I didn’t have what I needed. I had replaced the cake flour with plain flour. I had also replaced the sugar with brown sugar and unsalted butter to butter.

Okay! Here you go…

Just out from oven! Yummy!!

Ingredients

225g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

190g brown sugar

60g butter, cut into pieces

50g creamy peanut butter

2 eggs, beaten

150g nonfat yogurt

Chopped peanuts / peanuts for sprinkling (optional)

What to do

(1) Have all ingredients at room temp. Preheat oven to 180C and grease or line a 12-cup muffin tin.

(2) Sift together plain flour, baking powder and baking soda.

(3) Cream butter and peanut butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Dribble in eggs slowly, about 1 tbsp at a time, beating constantly for about 2 mins.

(4) On low speed, beat in 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by ½ the yogurt. Beat in 1/2 of the remaining flour mixture, then remaining yogurt and the last of the flour, scrapping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

(5) Divide the mixture between muffin pan. Sprinkle nuts on top.

(6) Bake for 30 to 35 mins or until top is light golden brown and skewer inserted comes out clean.

(7) Cool in pan for 5 mins. Unmold and cool completely.

Muesli Muffins

Since I had a big pack of muesli in my pantry, I decided to bake muesli muffin for breakfast. Healthy snack!

Hmmm…it was delicious but is suitable only for those people who like to eat muesli as the aroma from muesli was heavy. = P

I like it as I used to have muesli for breakfast everyday. So, this is something different from my usual breakfast which is muesli with milk / yoghurt.

My cousin - Gim Theng also likes to bake but she will only choose those recipes without butter. As butter is not good for health and she is very health conscience. Hence, Gim Theng, this recipe suits you well! Enjoy! ;)

Ingredients (Makes 9)

2 eggs
250ml milk
60ml olive oil
2 tbs honey
200g muesli (toasted with dried fruit)
165g plain flour
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

What to do

(1) Preheat oven to 200°C. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper cases.

(2) Whisk eggs, milk, oil and honey together. Combine muesli, flour and soda in a bowl.

(3) Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix together quickly using a wooden spoon until just combined. Mixture may be lumpy and does not have to be evenly mixed.

(4) Spoon mixture into paper cases. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Grilled Lamb Cutlets

Today I had prepared something different for dinner which is grilled lamb cutlets served with black pepper sauce and chips. This is very simple meals in which I sprinkled some salt and pepper on each of the lamb and grilled at 190 degrees for 15 minutes. I had a pack of ready made black pepper sauce in my kitchen so it was time to “finish” it. For the chips, I baked at 180 degrees for 20 minutes. So, everything was ready in about 45 minutes! (",)