又一餐

这是一顿 ‘看似很厉害却很不厉害’ 的晚餐。

（原谅我词穷⋯⋯）

就这一晚，我下班迟了，回到家又担心做菜时间不够，

于是便已水煮马铃薯来取代米饭（煲饭需要一点时间）。

‘水煮马铃薯＋四季豆’ 的时间，刚好可以用来煎牛扒，

这一餐 ‘准备＋烹饪’ 的时间，半小时有余。

加上我最近少吃了肉，煎蛋也用不上多少时间。

就这样，咱们简简单单又一餐。

六月。冬季

很快的，六月来了又要结束了。

虽然这里早已入冬了，六月份总觉得不比往年冷，期待已久的毛衣跟靴子看来今年也用不上了 =(

最近工作量很重，私人时间少了很多。

如果真能空出时间，理智告诉我应该都把它花在睡眠上。

说实话，虽然偶尔我也觉得这样的生活很紧迫，而且也不晓得可以维持多久（毕竟人老了体力也会不足），不过每当我从病人手上接过他们给我的小礼物时，那一瞬间我会天真地认为一切疲劳和努力都是值得的。

图下是一位年过八十的老奶奶昨天给我做的手工草莓浆，让我今天的早餐吃得特别满足。

六月初，我家婆跟外家去英国旅游了，留下老爷一个人在家，我怕他寂寞，所以最近常常叫爸爸过来跟我们一起吃饭。

我知道爸爸一直都喜欢吃辣、肉骨茶、酿豆腐之类的大马美食，所以即使工作再忙、下班再迟都好，我都会全力以赴去准备每一顿晚餐。

这是肉骨茶 in process 中⋯⋯ 放了两块茶包，再多家几根肉桂和八角，味道会更香。

怎么样？晚餐还可以见人吗？？

可能是华裔的遗传，总觉得人多热闹的晚餐吃得特别津津有味，菜肴的味道是其次，是多双筷子多份幸福的关系。

每一次有人来做客，菜单一定少不了云吞或饺子。对，你没错，我承认是我独权、是我霸道，我不管客人爱不爱吃饺子，反正就是本人喜欢上这道菜就是了，哈哈！

外面买的雪糕吃腻了，自己在家DIY也很不错。

这次的雪糕食谱之前已经提过了（请点击这里），不过这次的成品比上一回成功多了！

这是 －－－>  肉桂八角焦糖雪糕 Spiced Burnt (Cinnamon & Star Anise) Caramel Ice Cream。

看到八角 Star Anise 了吗？我刻意放整块的下去来给我嘉宾制造意外惊喜～

上一回邀请日本朋友回来吃饭，他也猛赞这个八角焦糖雪糕好吃、好吃！

两公升的雪糕，颜色好好看～

六月份其中一晚，爸爸大概是看我工作太累，不想我煮，所以请了大家一起去锯排。
虽然吃外面有吃外面的方便，不过我想我还是比较享受煮给家人吃的快乐～

放两张照片来分享一下咱们当晚吃了些什么～

六月份只剩短短一周时间，时间怎么过得那么快？

我想，忙碌的生活何止我一个，希望正在努力的你一切顺顺利利～

祝你冬季快乐，开开心心！

Mini Walnut Egg Tarts 迷你核桃蛋挞

Hello my Poppy Seeds!

Last Saturday, I was zapped by a pang of guilt.
Of all sudden, I realised it has been at least a year or longer since I last bake something for my family!

Years ago, I remember having all the time in the world to spend on miscellany.
And baking used to be one of my favourite things to do.
Sometimes I baked for fun and experiment.
Other times I baked to cheer and surprise my family.
Occasionally I would bake just for the sake of killing time.
I just enjoyed baking although half the time they didn't turn out tasty =(

I wouldn't mind baking day and night if time allows.
Thanks goodness, today I finally found time to surprise my family with some hot mini walnut egg tarts!

My recipe can't be any more simple than this.

(Source: childhood memory)

Ingredients:

1 sheet of pampas short crust pastry, cut into 4x4, 16 squares

60 g caster sugar

60 ml hot water

80 ml soy milk (lactose-free)

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 handful of walnuts

1 tsp of natural, pot set honey

Method:

1. Dissolve sugar in hot water and let the sugar mixture cools down before whisking in milk.

2. Add vanilla extract to beaten eggs, then filter the egg mixture before adding to sugar/milk mixture from Step 1.

3. Divide egg mixture into pastry cases. Bake for 10 minutes in the oven at 150°C.

4. Meanwhile, prepare honey-coated walnuts by combining the two ingredients together.

5. Remove egg tarts from oven, top with honey-coated walnuts and bake for another 5 minutes.

6. Serve hot. Careful not to burn your lips! 

Simple enough?
Hope this brings you a sweet baking inspiration for your upcoming weekend ♥

Until then, I wish you a great week ahead!

NB: I just came back from my family dinner.
I am glad my father in law gave me a 10/10 score for my mini walnut egg tarts! How sweet is that?

Home Style Fish & Chips

I bought 2kg of barramundi fillets just after Easter and they should last us for more than 10 meals...
You know, typical housewife mentality, bulk buy, hehe...

I usually either bake or steam it with some shallots, ginger and tomatoes (because then I can go do something else while waiting for it to cook).

BUT... I have come to realise that my style is getting too old fashioned and boring?!
Sometimes food is tastier when it is fattier.
Sometimes we deserve a fair bit of fat to keep our life happier.

So, this is my version of Fish & Chips for dinner tonight. Ta da..!

Perfect golden fried barra - I battered it and fried it myself... bon apetite!

And my sweet potato chips - I sliced them, seasoned them and baked them myself too ♥

That's all from me today. I feel fat tonight. Have a good week ahead everyone (^-^)

Holy Moly Guacamole-y!

A few weeks ago I have my diet very carefully reviewed.
Since then I have been monitoring what I stuff in my mouth very closely!

I don't have problem with eating fresh veggies for they are best to be eaten raw anyway.
The challenge is how to prepare a veggie meal so you don't feel bored then slip back into eating junk again.

I am not a master chef and my food doesn't always turn out exemplary.
But I enjoy exploring different food preparation methods so as to keep my dinner as interesting for me and my better-half as possible.

Guacamole & Quartered Beetroot on Wholemeal Slice - Mia's Style   ~(^o^~)
(dressing: lemon + maldon salt + truffle olive oil)

Stay healthy. Stay happy. Happy weekend my healthy ones ♥ ♥

你喜欢我的蛋糕吗？

其实我没有贪心，起初我并没有特别想要弄一个那么巨大的蛋糕。

可是当我把蛋糕端到大家的面前，看到大家惊喜的脸孔，再听到大家 “哇” 得很大声之后⋯⋯

我就觉得，这个 JUMBO 草莓蛋糕，真的做对了！

蛋糕一共四寸高，四层厚，层与层之前夹着新鲜的 STRAWBERRY PUREE。

在我生日的前两个月，其实男人已经重复问我，今年想要什么生日蛋糕呢？

虽然听了很窝心，可是今年我还是坚决自己做蛋糕了，因为我希望在生日这一天，依然可以把惊喜带到大家的身边，生日不应该是自我中心的一日，而是更需要分享的一日。

金钱买不到时间，财富买不到快乐，我的生日，希望天天都是开心的 ～

Last Minute Hazelnut Muffins

The other night Alex wanted something sweet after dinner...

But because we haven't been baking much at home lately- so there is no flour, no butter, no cream, no yoghurt, no gelatine, no cocoa powder, no full cream milk, no fruit, no ice cream, no pastry and no caster sugar!!! 

What still left in the pantry were:

1. one full packet + one opened packet of 350g hazelnut meals
2. 3 eggs in the fridge
3. some raw sugar
4. canola oil for cooking
5. vanilla essence
6. baking powder
7. a little almond milk left in the fridge, and most pathetically,
8. 6 squares of 70% cadbury dark chocolates from xmas that we still haven't finished eating!!! (melted)
After mixing everything, then off it goes into the hot oven preheated at 180°C and bake for 15 minutes.

BUT guess what?!!!
Despite so limited ingredients to work with, I am so so so glad that I still able to whip up a tray of 10 what I call the Last Minute Flourless Hazelnut Muffins from the Leftovers!!!

This is a from-scratch recipe with no measurement needed other than baking powder (1 tsp).

It may not look the best but the taste is soooo original and just heavennnnnn!

I really like the bite-y texture from the hazelnut meals~
And it is safe to say that this recipe is much healthier without flour.

Enjoy!

Spiced Burnt Caramel Ice Cream (first attempt)

Summer time let's have plenty of ice cream and a bit of fun churning your own at home!

My first attempt in making Spiced Burnt Caramel Ice Cream!!!

(Recipe adapted from Taste.com)

Overall self-rating:

 ✔ JUST PASSED ✔

Look: ♥♥♥♥♡  4/5

Taste: ♥♥♥♡♡  3/5

Texture: ♥♥♡♡♡ 2/5

One big part of my failure was due to the lack of deep taste from star anise and cinnamon.

The sweet caramel pretty much dominated the entire flavour.

I must say though, at first glance, it looks pretty impressive! 

But I need to work on the ice cream texture and try to keep it as creamy smooth as possible. 

Wait for me... I will be back with the second attempt ^^

Stepping into Year 2013

What is better than starting a brand new year with raw fish 鱼生？

Raw fish = Yu Sang = symbol of abundance, prosperity and good fortune.

Happy New Year to you my fellow bloggers!!!

NB: I hope you like my sushi anyway =)

Dinner Tonight: 30.12.2012

Roast Chicken with Lemon & Fresh Lemon Thyme

Can't go wrong with this recipe - roast at 220℃, 20-25 minutes per 500g chicken, basting with chicken drippings every 20-25 minutes. The end result is luscious crisp on the outside, juicy and succulent on the inside ~ Bon appetite!

BerryLicious

I used to do lotsa baking at home a long long long time ago... 
before I took a 60-hours-per-week crazy full time position.

Nowadays I hardly have any time left to relax; not even on my day off; so let alone baking.
The only time when I well and truly make an effort to bake is when someone's birthday is coming close. That will be when I suddenly feel a strong urge to bake again.

The weekend just gone was double delight because both my dad's and mum-in-law's birthdays fell on the same weekend (only 2 days apart!). So that gave me one sweet chance to salvage and re-explore my interest in baking again.

Well... in fact I didn't even need to touch the oven this time, because mum-in-law loves cheesecake, so I decided to make her one with loads of dazzling berries on it. 

The biscuit base at the bottom is no ordinary either. I added a generous amount of pounded macadamia nuts in it before covered with a creamy layer of vanilla-flavoured filling and luscious strawberry swirl. I could have easily used more berries or even add another layer of gelatine on top of it. But I am not a strong believer in complication =)

The cheesecake turned out to be very nice <--- this is what my father-in-law said!

The biscuit base is not too thick and the sweetness is just perfect. 

I can't be any happier than this! 

On the same evening, mum's son (aka my husband-to-be) treated the whole family to Hog's Breath.

It was packed with people. So many tables were celebrating birthdays as well (what a coincidence!).

The menu seems to have more varieties and better options since our last visit. Lobster is in the season now, and with such a good value in place, how can we miss that, right?

I had such a yummy weekend feeding in so much calories OMG! 

I hope you had a wonderful weekend too!

This wednesday I will be attending an official beauty treatment by Clarins (yes again!).

I am already all ecstatic about it - hopefully I will be able to share some experience soon.

So until then, sweet dreams everyone~

Absolutely Healthy

At the beginning of the year, I promised I will make my health my top priority no matter how busy I am.
Now that the year is coming to an end soon I should better continue watching my diet even more closely.
So far we have made quite a significant change to our dietary plan this year. We have totally omitted fish and chips, pizza etc from our list. Not to mention cutting down our portion size, using less sugar, salt and oil in cooking. And even hardly eat out these days other than the Japanese foods!
How good is that?!!! (/^o^)/

I cook dinner at home most nights no matter how late I finish from work. Sometimes we have our meal at 9pm and by the time I finish washing up the dishes it is already time to snooze! But it doesn't really bother me as my recipes are usually pretty simple, straight forward and short. Or maybe bold even?

Dinner tonight 03/09/12 - Steamed salmon and boiled baby bok choy. 

Completely salt-free. Healthy enough?

I used to take a lot of advice from Jamie Oliver's cookbooks but lately I have been making up my own sauce instead. The broth from the steamed salmon is sweet and has a faint hint of alcohol. It is good with a bowl of white rice. 

Home cooked dinner is absolutely healthy although it may not look fancy most of the time.

Don't you agree?

The Birthday Cakes

Check out the mega large strawberries... the size of ping pong balls!

And the chocolate frosting along the edge... OoOo... that is yummilicious~

Our parents custom ordered this ice cream cake specially for Alex's birthday.

Doesn't it look pretty? 

Although we still have half a cake in the freezer, like previous years, I still bake him a birthday cake to show my ♥♥♥

Hazelnut and coffee cake (^_^)

Sweet Temptation II

Hello my beautiful ones,

Have you had your dinner yet? 

We had roast turkey for dinner tonight and it felt so satisfying after a big meal (+ desserts too!)

Some random farm workers dropped by at my work place yesterday selling their own farm produce and without hesitation I bought a large punnet of STRAWBERRIES to surprise Alex tonight. Because he loves them! And you know we rarely see such red and plump ones like these, not even in the fruit and veggie supermarket. The sad part is strawberries grow mould very easily, so we have to finish them real quick! Tonight we had them with pancake and golden syrup yey!!! I know it was kind of odd to have pancake at night but they were too yummy to resist!

Sweet Temptation I

Alex and I have done so many cooking and baking together for the last three years living under one roof and undoubtedly this is not one of the best but the best time ever in my life to spend with him!

Our love at first sight begins from a beach side restaurant four years ago... and since then, our romance continues to revolve around exploring great food together. I can't remember exactly how many dishes and desserts we have experimented together but all these time they have been so sweet and memorable to me, that's for sure...

Dessert Tonight: 10.06.2012

The Good Old Cob Loaf Recipe

The other day I was watching a British food programme.

River Cottage Everyday by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

After the programme, I was inspired to bake a cob loaf for our parents!

I have never succeeded in baking a loaf but I am up for the challenge to hand make one myself.

I was thinking about snapping picture for each step but it is just too hard for me to work my hands around the camera and the dough at the same time...

Making the dough wasn't hard but shaping it into a perfect round ball can be a bit tricky. 

But it turned out looking really nice. I was surprised!

Crunchy on the outside. Soft on the inside.

If it sounds hollow on the inside when tapped, it means baking the loaf is done!

I prepared some strawberry jam but everyone liked it with orange marmalade!

River Cottage Everyday recipe makes dough making process as simple as a.b.c...

It feels good to hand make your own bread sometimes...

This is what I like about British TV presenter - short, simple and succinct!

He may not be the best looking chef in the world but he is certainly a good chef.

Recipe for cob loaf is as follows...

Enjoy baking ^^

Dinner Tonight: 15.1.2012

Duck was on special and hence roast duck for dinner tonight ^__^

I can't remember when was the last time I had duck but this was finger-licking good!

The dipping sauce was Alex's special concoction of quince paste and orange marmalade, infused with various herbs and spices. It was the best sauce I have ever tasted.

Eggplant Teriyaki

I know we all love to eat but also trying not to get too chubby.
So here we go. Dinner tonight with eggplant teriyaki.

The method of preparing this dish is completely oil-free.

It is slightly crunchy on the outside and soft (but not soggy) on the inside.

The trick is to pat dry well before pan-grilling it.

Health benefits of eggplant are enormous:

- rich in fibre and low in soluble carbohydrates - great news for the diabetics

- potential cholesterol reduction

- antioxidant

Due to its high content of uric acid, excessive consumption is not recommended for gouts patient.

Simple recipe to share:

First of all, allow thick slices of eggplant (approx. 1.5cm) to dry on paper towel. 

If needed, sprinkle sea salt to draw out excessive moisture.

Grill them on a non-stick frying pan (without oil) until both sides are lightly charred. 

Sprinkle pepper as you go.

Finally, drizzle teriyaki sauce on eggplant and let it sizzle until char brown colour before turning your stove off and ready to serve!

Eggplant teriyaki is nice on its own or with mayonnaise.

Thank you for reading.

Oyasumi nasai... ^^

Dinner Tonight: 6.12.2011

Once in a while it is good to have a home made pizza. Well at least I know it would be much healthier and cheaper to make it yourself at home. Since we love making it our own, we have long ditched the habit of ordering pizza online from Domino. The good thing about making your own pizza is that you have the control of what ingredient goes in it and you can also achieve the taste you seek in a pizza. For instance, I like mine really hot and spicy so I usually sprinkle heaps of chilli powder and pepper on it. Mind you, my salami is firing hot too!

There is another thing about avocado I would like to talk about. I know many Asians don't like avocado. So was I when we were young because mum has never introduced it in our diet. Now that I have discovered the technique to prepare several different avocado dishes, I am loving it more and more each time I eat it.

In this dish, I had the avacado flesh removed and tossed on low heat with extra light margarine, chopped garlic, pepper and chopped anchovies. Then I prepared bun or toast for dipping. Yummm... The chargrilled eggplants is its accompaniment.

Of course the salads too. It is a must have at the dinner.

Tonight we had cucumber, onion and tomato salad tossed in truffle-infused balsamic.
Nice and healthy!

Dinner Tonight: Oh Salmon!

A nice block of perfectly seared Tasmanian salmon and salads for dinner tonight. Again!

Salmon remains as our favourite. 

We have salmon for dinner almost every second daily since five months ago when we noticed the salmon diet has made a huge difference to Alex's health. He appears to be more lively, active, feeling less fatigue and less joint pain. Thanks to its highly-prized omega fatty acids!

Alex is a good chef when it comes to preparing salmon dishes and he always makes his own dipping sauce to go with the fish. I think I am really lucky ^_^