Banana chocolate chip muffin with dessicated coconut

Banana muffins with some extra. This is the first thing I made with the new mixer. It is actually quite simple to use. Such a life facilitator. Back to the muffins, they taste like the fried banana cakes that my mum usually makes, but with chocolate. Yum. I would definitely advise to make those, especially in times when you haves some over-ripe bananas hanging around. This is a great recipe to make instead of throwing them away (wasting is a no no). These muffins are sweet and delicious. For those who want to try those, I followed this recipe.

Meefoon #2

I made it. Okay it's nothing over extraordinary. I simply made that meefoon soup again and it was nice. Yum. It was so yum. I guess it is the efforts paying off. Practice does contribute to improvement. This is a fact.

Tofu teriyaki with asparagus and snow peas

Lot of first indeed. I wanted to try cooking asparagus. It is said to be very healthy. Today I will not dwell on the benefits (feeling lazy yes). There is always some kind of apprehension with the first time, as you are not too sure how it will end up tasting. However the only one way to know is to go for it. I tried to recreate a teriyaki dish I saw on the coles magazine and let's be honest, the result was not that good. I mean it was not the best dish I made. I did a few faux pas. First I should have fried the tofu first to have that crispy skin. Second, my teriyaki sauce was not that tasty enough. I think it lack something I cannot really figure out. Anyway the picture should give an idea of what I have done.

Look at those lovely asparagus

 

Pumpkin gratin (recipe)

I did not have the opportunity to upload my recent pictures, so I will post up a few pictures that have been sitting on my desktop, waiting to be posted. This is the pumpkin gratin that  I made two weeks ago- throwback Saturday. Anyway, this time it was creamy and not chunky, like last time yes. See I told you that you always learn from your errors. Now my first mistake was that the pumpkin was chopped too thick. Result is that it takes longer to cook. Second mistake is that I should not have cook it in a heavy pan, rather in a pressure cooker. Well a note to myself next time though is that pumpkin do not need lot of water to go with in the pressure cooker.

Alright so this recipe is pretty simple. All you have to do is chop you pumpkin (I used butternut one) into 1cm cube (see first picture below). Put in your pressure cooker with less than a cup of water. Add salt and pepper and herbs if you want. In the meantime, cook garlic and onion until it changes colour. Wait for the 3rd blow to turn off the pressure cooker. Let the air out and take out the inside. If the pumpkin is still in pieces. mash them. Add the pan with the onion and garlic. Add cream (as required). Salt and pepper to season and more herb. Then put your mixture in an oven proof dish. Top with cheese and breadcrumb. Finish off with cooking spray on top or butter. Put in the oven 180 degrees for about 15-20 minutes until golden.

 

Ingredients:

1kg pumpkin (I used butternut)
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic
Herbs (any you prefer/ have on hand)
3-4 tbs heavy cream  
Grated cheese (cheddar/ parmesan/ any)
Breadcrumbs

Olive oil
Cooking spray
Salt and pepper, to taste
Butter (optional)

Beef steak

We are in Australia. Undeniably one dish that will come again and again is beef steak. Yes please. Steak is one simple thing to cook. All you need is the right meat. The rest is about getting it done. We have steak almost every week or so. I am now trying to vary the side dishes. We used to have it with mashed potatoes (most often because it is easy to make- using the instant one- and less oily than chips). I really want to increase the options. Yesterday I baked potatoes for my first time and indeed it goes really well with steak. I try roasting some cauliflower as well. It turned out okay.

My roasted cauliflowers resting

I did not have the opportunity to take picture of the baked potatoes tray, but you can see  some on the top left corner :)

With stir fry button mushroom yummmos

 Before I leave, I will advice to have green salad as side dish for anything fried or stir fry.

Sweet treat #2

I'm taking the opportunity to post a lot because I will be quite busy this coming week. I'm volunteering for my uni orientation week. So yes this will take a bit of my time.
Back to topic: this is another sweet treat, less healthy version. In French, we would say 'péché mignon'. Strawberry Fields Torte from the Cheesecake factory shop, which a friend brought the other day. Well hopefully someday I will be able to make one on my own. I like the texture of the cake, light and soft, as a sponge cake should be. Not too fan of the strawberry cream, but overall nice cake. Strawberry + chocolate is a definite Yes.

STRAWBERRY FIELDS TORTE

STRAWBERRY FIELDS TORTE

STRAWBERRY FIELDS TORTE

Tuna pasta bake

I love pasta. Last week I made tuna pasta bake which is a great dish I must admit. Easy to make. So simple and of course delicious.  For my recipe I used zucchini. So basically, I cook some garlic, onion together. Add the zucchini and button mushroom. Then mix in tuna, cream and finally the corn. Season with pepper and salt. Sprinkle with parsley, basil, any herb you like. That’s it. Then fold in a baking dish. Top with grated cheese and breadcrumbs. Spray with cooking oil and pop into the oven for 15 minutes at 180 degrees or until cheese is melted and golden.  Let rest and dig in. I like the sweetness that comes from the corn. Well all you have to do now is to try it.

First stand mixer

Today, we bought my first stand mixer ever. Yaaay! I had a hand mixer which my mum gave us- handy but so heavy and slow. No wonder, I was very much looking forward to the day of having a stand mixer, one which will do most of the mixing job 'all by itself' hehe. So today was the day. Yesss! So thrilled about it. No more drooling over the cooking shows' mixers hehe. Let's the baking starts woo hoo :)

Chicken rice soup with celery, carrot and potato (recipe)

This is a soup that my mum usually made when I was little and would always request her to. This soup is so delicious; it is a combination of veggies that go so well together. I trust that celery is made for that soup; it would not taste the same without it. This soup is perfect on a cold night. It will definitely keep you warm.

Yesterday was my first time cooking it. Yes, I am trying a multitude of  recipes lately, learning so much. Watching or reading a recipe is not enough until you actually 'put your hands in the dough'. I can second that. Alright, so I was quite sceptical about the way the soup will turn out- you know that incertitude of doing something for the first time . Anyway I went through all the steps and despite being quite hectic in the kitchen, it tasted just quite like my mum's- which is amazing. I ended making a casserole full of it, definitely more that I expected. No complaints though.

 

 

 Recipe (I'm quite new at this but this is how I cook the soup yesterday. Writing while it is still fresh in my mind hehe)

Ingredients
 5-6 drumstick depending on the size
1 bunch of celery, sliced thinly
5 carrots, shredded
6 potatoes, cut into 1cm cube
1 litre chicken stock
2 tsp chicken stock powder
1 1/2 cup of rice, rinsed about 2 times.
salt and pepper to taste

Method
1. Cook the drumstick, by putting in boiling water (about 2 litres) and let simmer for about 30 minutes, until the meat come of the bone quite easily. Remove any excess fat of the water surface.

2. In the meantime, bring you chicken stock to a simmer. Put in the celery, carrots and potatoes. Cover and let cook for about 15 minutes.

3.Once you chicken is ready, do not throw out the water. Reserve stock. Pull out the meat of the bone finely.

4. Put about 4 cups of the reserved stock in the pot with the vegetable and put you rice in, stir and let cook. Also add the chicken.

5. Once the rice starts to cook, add in the chicken stock powder. Add salt and pepper per tasting.
The soup should be ready to be served.

Sweet treat #1

Who doesn't like berries? I love berries. They are sweet, acidic, and so nutritious.
The other day, I had strawberries and cherries. Now cherries is one absolutely amazing fruit, so fruity and delicous. I could eat them endlessly without getting enough of them. I knew there was a reason why they are so expensive haha. I love strawberries too. Berries are rich in antioxidants which is good against cancer and other disease risk factors. Other berries to consume: blueberry, rasberries, goji berries. Yummy ;)

Other night for dinner

Two of those dishes that I like to eat. Healthy, tasty, delicious, colourful, balanced. Pure goodness.
I kind of like to cook those because they combine the ingredients that I like a lot and it is fairly easy for me because I have cooked them so many times. 
I'm of course talking of my chicken, bok choy tofu dish and brocoli dish.Yummm

Beef capsicum (recipe)

I have already posted something about beef capsicum but today I will post the recipe.

So for the beef marinade, I usually use soy sauce, sesame oil, ground white pepper, and cornflour. You can add cooking wine if you want to. Mix with the beef and let this rest about 15 minutes. In the meantime, cut all your veggies. I used capsicum (obviously) and some snow peas (they are in season right now). Finely cut garlic and onion.
Next step is to cook the beef and then remove from pan. Then saute the garlic and onion. After 2-3 minutes, add the capsicum and snow peas (or any other veggies you like). Let cook until nearly tender (around 5 minutes). Add the cooked beef. Finally add a marinade of oyster sauce and cornflour. Bring to boil and the dish is ready to be served. Salt and pepper to taste. and there you go:

Lovely capsicums

Capsicum chopped. Love the colours

Dish is served

Little mixed berry pie/tart

This is actually quite easy to make. This puff pastry comes in as very handy (I used Pampas one). I recently bought it  after I saw that apple pie video on youtube, made using this pastry.  Looks so yummy and easy dizzy. Now I was not planning on making those yet. I saw the recipe of a blueberry tart shortcut version in the coles magazine. This is what I wanted to make. Now I was ready to make those but with mixed berries because this is what I had in the fridge and then I saw a much better recipe on the packet itself (see the wrapping is there for a reason!). Well it's not really better, simply better ingredients to my liking. The one on the packet does not come with butter in the filling, so I was more inclined to try that recipe.

Click to see recipe in bigger size. Yes I am too lazy to type this back. Making using of that camera ;)

 

Alright mine did not look exactly as gorgeous as the one in the recipe pic, but hey for my first time trying, I would say...not that bad ey ;)

'Green' Risotto (recipe)

This was my first time cooking and tasting Risotto. I have heard of it tremendously lately and I was like why not giving it a try as something new.  I looked up for some recipes and finally chose the one I found easier and it was on the rice packet itself. I bought Riviania arborio rice. In the recipe it says bacon, but instead I used snow peas and zucchini. I kind of wanted a really ‘greeny’ risotto.  The dish turned out great. Well for a first time, it tasted good. I really think that it is a  really nice dish to try because you can make up your own risotto in terms of ingredients.

Recipe (adapted from the Riviani recipe):

Ingredients: 

2 tsp olive oil

30g butter

Garlic (I love garlic so I put about 3-5 cloves)

1 lg onion chopped

2 cup arborio rice

1 zucchini grated

A  bunch of snow pea,chopped roughly

1/4 cup of white wine

4 cups chicken stock, simmered

2 cups button mushroom, sliced

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Chopped parsley

Groud black pepper

Procedures:

Heat olive oil and butter in a large heavy base saucepan.

Add garlic and onion and cook for about 1-2 minute.

Stir in rice and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes or until rice slightly colours, stirring frequently.

Add wine and simmer to absorb liquid, stirring constantly.

Begin adding stock, a cup at a time, allowing each adittion to be absorbed and stirring well before each addition.

After first cup, add mushrooms. Adjust consistencies with extra water/stock, if necessary.

After third cup, add zucchini and snow peas. When all stock is absorbed, remove pan from heat and stir in cheese, parsley and pepper.

Mixed berries vanilla pudding popsicle

Alright so I found this popsicle holder at the Red dot store and it came in handy since I wanted to try those vanilla pudding popsicle. The amazing thing is that I found the vanilla pudding (ingredient) rather like mere coincidence. I never heard of it before seeing the recipe. I was actually rather sceptical about finding them in store and bang I found them without even looking for them at the instant jelly/ custard aisle. Now there was no reason for not trying them and I did and they turned out nicely. So proud haha. Seriously I had a hard time taking the popsicle out and then realised a handy way to get them out is to put them under warm water like 5-10 seconds- and they came out magically.

Instructions: Follow the instant pudding procedures (add two cups of milk and stir constantly). When the pudding has thickened, add whatever topping you want. I had frozen berries, so I used them. Then, put in your moulds and keep in the freezer for about 4-5 hours and they are should be ready.
In the recipe I found on youtube, they stir in Oreo cookie crumbles, which is nice too. They also add like half cup whipped cream which I did not. This is so simple to make

Mint choc cookie

It looks like I have not been making cookies for a rather long time. It was about time for me to try new ones and coincidentally I saw this video on youtube. Mint chocolate cookie. Yes! These cookies look so irresistible. Mint and chocolate is another amazing combination that I absolute adore. Alright, I would agree that chocolate goes well with almost anything. Anyway, I could not wait to try this cookie. I got hold of all the ingredients and finally gave it a go. I end up with 20 cookies. Now let me tell you that those cookies taste really good. They are chocolaty and the mint simply boost the flavour. I put a little bit less butter because I ran out, which is why I believe they were crunchy instead of chewy, but they were still so delicious. The crunchiness I think actually make it even better. It would definitely make them again.

Right I also put all my ingredients together, like for the first time before starting off. I always tell myself this but then keep on going round the kitchen looking for my ingredients. This always end up with the kitchen being so messy and requiring more cleaning. So after a few previous lessons, I finally put all my ingredients together before getting started with the recipe- nice and neatly so that I stop from going round and round. I think this is a habit that everyone should inculcate because it really does save time, and result in less messy and stressful moments. The other day was crazy because I already started cooking and did not have all my ingredients ready, so there was such a rush and panic. Fortunately enough, it was not such a catastrophe in the end. Pheww. Nevertheless, pointless stressful time. Back on topic, give these cookies a try definitely worth it :)

Oh yes I finally get hold of a cookie jar. Hehe this is so great. The cookies look so nice in it.

Choc orange muffin

Alright, I do have a lot of posting to catch up with hehe. I will start off by the choc orange muffin I made last week. I am sure that you know how fond I am with the choc orange flavour. Those two combination goes so well together. Recently I seem to get a lot of 'on the spur' moments in terms of recipes I want to try. So the idea comes to my mind and I simply google the words and bang I have my recipe. I was especially looking for a recipe that have real orange juice as ingredient, not only the zest. So I find this one. Mine was slightly bake off a lil more. It was so yummy to eat the muffin once it came out of the oven (okay slightly cooled down). It was so delicious. I ate two in a row haha.

Ready to go in the oven

Out of the oven

Cooling down on the wire rack

Trying the first one yumm

...and the second one :)

 I would say to eat them on the day itself because it becomes less moist and soft after.