Parmesan Meatball Skewers

Making meat balls is time consuming but occasionally I will do it for our meals too. So I combined the bread crumb, mince, onion, cheese and dried herbs for my meatballs. Rolled them up, pan frying then baking them till cook through.

Ingredients


450g beef mince
50g bread crumbs
1 small red onion, coarsely grated
150g finely grated parmesan cheese
½ tsp mixed dried herbs
2 x 400g cans diced tomatoes
A handful of roughly chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
A handful of fresh basil leaves
Cooked macaroni pasta, to serve


What to do

(1) Combine bread crumbs, mince, onion, cheese, and dried herbs in a large bowl. Using 1 tablespoon mixture at a time, roll mixture into balls. Place on a tray. Cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 200°C/180°C fan-forced.

 

(2) Line a baking tray with baking paper. Thread 4 meatballs onto each skewer. Place skewers on prepared tray. Bake for 30 minutes or until browned and cooked through.

 

(3) Meanwhile, place tomato, parsley and basil in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 3 to 4 minutes or until heated through. Serve skewers with pasta and tomato mixture.

Asparagus with Poached Egg

Saw this meal from Taste.com and I was eager to try it out as it seems a health meal for breakfast. Hence, I’ve prepared this over the weekend and it tasted good. Not a “wow” but it was a healthy breakkie!

Ingredients

2 bunches asparagus, woody ends trimmed
2 tsp vinegar
2 fresh eggs
25g finely grated parmesan


What to do

Bring a large frying pan of salted water to the boil over medium-high heat. Add the asparagus and cook for 2-3 minutes or until bright green and tender crisp. Use tongs to transfer the asparagus to a plate. Cover to keep warm.

Add the vinegar to the water in pan. Reduce heat to medium-low. Crack 1 egg into a small bowl. Use a spoon to stir the water to make a whirlpool. Carefully pour the egg into the centre of the whirlpool. Cook for 4 minutes for a soft yolk or until cooked to your liking. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to a plate. Cover with foil to keep warm. Repeat with remaining eggs.

 

Divide the asparagus among serving plates. Top with an egg. Season with salt and pepper. Top with parmesan to serve.

Tandoori Chicken

I was thinking to make something different for our dinner last night. So, when I did my grocery shopping the other day, I’ve got myself a jar of Tandoori paste.

Here’s my version of Tandoori Chicken. It tastes delicious and it was pretty easy to prepare!

Happy Cooking. =)

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts
5tbs tandoori paste
5tbs greek yoghurt
2tbs olive oil
Naan bread, to serve


What to do

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

2. Combine the tandoori paste and yoghurt. Place the chicken in a plastic container and cover with the marinade, making sure each piece is well coated.

3. Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 3 hours, but preferably overnight.

4. Heat half the oil in a non-stick frypan, when oil is hot, add chicken and cook for 2 minutes on one side without turning (this allows a nice crust to form). Turn over and cook for 1 minute on the other side. Transfer to another baking paper-lined baking tray. Grill chicken in the oven for 6-8 minutes or until cooked through.

Choc Banana Toasties

Prepared this for our breakie over the weekend. It was absolutely yum! Must give it a go… =D

 

Ingredients

2 slices of raisin bread
2tsp Nuttella
1 large banana, sliced


What to do

(1) Preheat the sandwich maker. Spread one side of the raisin bread with butter and the other side id each slice with Nutella.

(2) Place 2 slices of bread, butter-side down, in sandwich maker. Top with banana. Top with remaining bread, butter –side up.

(3) Cook for 1-2 minutes or until golden. Cut into half and serve!

Chocolate Olive Oil Cake

Looking for some cakes that without using butter? Here you go… this chocolate cake was made out of olive oil instead of butter!!! I found this recipe from Taste.com.au and it is suitable for those who are concern about the diet like me. =D

Ingredients

2 eggs
100g sugar
150g self-raising flour
50g plain flour
50g cocoa powder
100g olive oil
60ml low-fat milk
Cocoa powder, to dust


What to do

(1) Preheat oven to 180°C. Brush a square cake pan with oil to grease. Line the base and sides with non-stick baking paper.

(2) Use an electric beater to beat the eggs and sugar in a small bowl until pale and creamy.

(3) Sift in the combined flours and cocoa powder. Fold until the mixture is almost combined. Add the olive oil and milk, and fold until combined.

(4) Spoon the cake mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until crumbs cling to a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake.

(5) Set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with cocoa powder to serve.

Enjoy!

CNY Baking – Pineapple Tarts

After I finished my Peanut Cookies baking, I continued with Pineapple Tarts. Ok, let me tell you this…making this Pineapple Tarts is really a hard work! It took me a so long to complete the task! No wonder people only bake this once a year or rather buys it from the shop.

 

 Ta da! Here's my first ever Pineapple Tarts!

For Pineapple jam

Ingredients

2 medium-size pineapples, grated and drain the juice
300g sugar
A stick of cinnamon

* Here’s the recipe for the step by step pineaple jam.

What to do

1. Cook grated pineapple in a pot with sugar and cinnamon for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

2. Cook until the pineapple jam starts to leave the sides of the pot. Remove from stove and set aside to cool.

For the pastry

Ingredients

200g butter, room temperature
3 tbsp sugar
1 ½ tsp of salt
1 egg yolk
375g flour
2 tbsp corn flour
2 ½ tbsp custard powder
2 tbsp milk powder

What to do

(1) Cream butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy.

(2) Add in the egg yolk and beat well.

(3) Sift salt, flour, custard powder, cornstarch and milk powder. Mix flour mixture into the butter until it forms a smooth dough.

(4) Remove and let the dough rest for half an hour.

(5) Roll out the dough about 0.5cm thick and cut into shape with a pineapple tart mould. Fill the center of tart with some pineapple jam. Repeat until the dough is finish.

(6) Bake the tarts in a pre-heated 180 degree until golden brown. Cool tarts on rack before storing it.

 

Here, I would like to wish everyone a Happy and Prosperous New Year and Gong Xi Fatt Chai!!! May the Year of the Rabbit bring you good health, wealth and happiness! =)

CNY Baking – Peanut Cookies

Chinese New Year is just around the corner. Unfortunately there is no celebration here (living in non Chinese community) and I can’t even feel the CNY atmosphere, especially when hubby is someone who doesn’t give a damn about CNY. =(

Well, I am trying to create some atmosphere for myself here. Teehee

I’ve baked 2 types of CNY goodies to enjoy which are Peanut Cookies and Pineapple Tarts. Both are my favourites!

Love my peanut cookies as it taste exactly how it should be. Hooray for myself! It was quite simple, all you need are:-

Ingredients

250g roasted peanuts
450g self-raising flour
225g icing sugar
200g vegetable oil
tsp salt

Egg Wash
2 egg yolk


What to do

(1) Pre-heat oven to 200 degree. Roast peanuts for 15-20 min in the oven. In a food processor, ground peanuts till fine.

(2) In a mixing bowl, mix flour, ground peanuts, sugar, and salt. Mix well.

(3) Add in oil and knead to make into a dough. Shape the dough round or cut into desired shape.

(4) Brush the top with some egg. Bake it at 180 degree in the oven until golden brown.

(5) Cool completely and keep cookies in an air-tight container.