One Pot Meals Part 2 - One Pot All Rice Cooker Chicken Rice

Both hubby and I love a good meal of claypot chicken rice, but I have been resisting buying a claypot - no, I'm not adding another bulky cookware to my mountain of cookware accumulated over the years.

Roast Cauliflower

For the longest time, cauliflower has never been on my favourite vege list, until I discovered Fried Cauliflower Rice.  If you love fried rice but dread the carbs, you've GOTTA try it.  Enuf said.

Fried "Cauliflower" Rice

When I first heard that you could substitute rice with grated cauliflower in a plate of fried rice, I was instantly piqued. 

Sesame Dressing and Spinach Gomae (Spinach in Sesame Dressing)

I actually made both of these quite a while ago, but have forgotten all about them in my draft box until recently. 

Bloggers Get-Together over Raya weekend

Behind row from left : Hody of Cook4You&Me, Jennifer of Chasingfooddreams, 
Yours truly, Wendy of Table for 2 ..or more,
Front row from left : Yen of Eat Your Heart Out,  Abbygail of Abbygail's Kitchen, and
Sharon of Feats of Feasts. Photo courtesy of Sharon.

When food bloggers have a get-together, there are bound to be plentiful of good food.

Homemade Pickle

Ever since hubby got me the Iphone 5, it is so much easier to snap pictures on the go. I also find myself using the phone camera to take more photos of my cooking. That's why you have been seeing more "inferior" quality photos that have minimal styling and food props :P  My poor DSLR...The photos in this post were all taken using the Iphone 5.

After reading Gertrude's post on her Vietnamese lunch, I was inspired to make a batch of homemade pickle so I could then use them to make a similar meal.  Homemade pickle is so easy to make, it just depends on the variety of vegetables you want and how complicated the dressing you prefer. 

I always just opt for something simple and easy to prepare.  These pickle are just one of those things that always come in handy - as appetizers, as tasty sandwich ingredients, as well as ingredients for Vietnamese prawn rolls - recipe coming up!.  Add some of these pickles in the roll and it makes the whole thing so much more apetizing and gives it that wonderful zing and crunch.

I find that the best tool to shred the vegetables into the right strips is not a mandolin or a grater, but this guy below :- 

Thanks to Veron of Quay Po Cooks, who bought this handy tool for me at one of our bloggers' meet.  She said this is widely used to shred unripened mangoes to make Som Tam, the Thai mango salad.

It sure is useful - it shreds the vegetables to the right size and thickness that I like.  I'm sure you can find this in many supermarket or grocery store.

Easy Homemade Pickle

• 1 medium size cucumber, shredded
• 1 carrot, shredded
• half a white radish, shredded
• 1/3 cup of distilled vinegar
• 1/2 cup of white sugar
• 1 tsp of salt

1.  Put all the ingredients into a big bowl and mix well.

2.  Store in two clean, glass jars (including the liquid) and keep in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.

Side Dishes / Appetizers : Post #2 : Mash Sweet Potato and Egg Salad

If you like dining at Japanese restaurants, you would have come across this popular side dish using normal potatoes.  My blogger friend, Nami of Just One Cookbook had posted about this quite some time ago in her blog, and i kept a note about it at the back of my mind.  A few months back, I happened to have some leftover sweet potato in the fridge, and I remembered about this recipe.  So that's how this variation came about.

Side Dishes / Appetizers: Post #1 : Sardines in Lettuce Boats

I thought it would be fun to feature some side dishes and/or appetisers as a series.  This is a simple and tasty appetizer that I often make.  The taste is sourish savoury, with a light spicy kick.  Use iceberg lettuce to give it that crunch and extra juiciness. 

This can also be made into a light sandwich lunch using the bread of your choice.

Best served chilled.

Sardines in Lettuce Boats

• 1 can (425g) of sardines in tomato sauce (I use Ayam brand)
• 7 small calamansi, juice only
• 1.5 tbspn tom yum paste
• 1 cup of chopped mint leves
• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 4 tbspn japanese mayo (kewpie) or normal mayo
• Sugar to taste
• Small lettuce cups

1.  Mash the sardines with the tomato gravy.

2.  Add in all the seasonings and mix well.  Chill in the fridge for about 1-2 hours.

3.  Scoop a tspn onto each lettuce cup and pop into your mouth!

Note: For a different presentation, you can also serve this on thick cucumber slices.  Don't like sardine?  Just sub it with tuna, tastes just as good.  

Easy Soup Series : Post #3 - Chicken and Burdock Soup

It took me forever to finally realised that burdock and japanese gobo are the same thing (noob cook me).  In Japanese cuisine, gobo is popularly used as a braised, sweet appetizer of shredded gobo and carrots called kinpira gobo. I have tasted this side dish in several Japanese restaurants in PJ. 

Easy Soup Series : Post #2 - Lotus Root Soup with Pork Ribs

Lotus root is so expensive these days.  The freshmart outside my house is selling it at almost $12 per kg; the wet market just marginally cheaper.  But it is a very nutritious veg - rich in dietary fiber, vitamin C and B6, potassium and thiamin. 

Easy Soup Series : Post #1 - Fish Head Soup with Yam

I first got the idea of adding yam to soups when i tasted this super yummy fish soup at Putien, the Heng Hwa restaurant made famous by its parent branch from Singapore.

 

Creamy Pumpkin Sauce Pasta with Prawns, Bacon and Broccoli

 

 

 

When Alvin of Chef and Sommelier mentioned that he cooked pumpkin prawns for his family, many of us bloggers were ooh-ing and ahh-ing away.  Check out the delicious recipe HERE.

Fried Nian Gao - Spring Roll Style

 

I love nian gaos, but it's getting harder and harder to find good quality ones.

For the past few years, i would receive nian gaos wrapped in banana leaves from well meaning friends during every chinese new year. And the subsequent cny, the poor fellas would still be in my fridge and i would then have the excuse to throw em away because they've all turned hard as rocks.

Fuss Free Recipes with AMC Cookware : Thai Style Steam Fish, Grilled Chicken and Steam Broccoli with Mushrooms and Scallops

A bumper post today - three recipes in one.   I decided to share these three recipes together as they are so easy to make, delicious and made so much easier and healthier to cook using the AMC Cookware. 


Grilled Chicken Leg

This dish was what attracted me to the AMC Cookware range in the first place. I couldn't believe how easy and fast it was, the meat was juicy and the skin crispy. There was no grease splatter, I didn't have to baste anything (I really dislike to do meat basting), and just two things to wash. 

Best of all was seeing how the oil has dripped down to the bowl.   After understanding how this works, I was totally sold!

• 500g deboned chicken legs, about 2-3 pieces (sometimes referred to as Chicken Maryland)

Marinade

• Dash of salt and pepper
• Pince of 5 spice powder
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• Dash of chinese cooking wine

1.  Marinade the chicken legs overnight or at least 2 hours.

2.  Place the chicken legs, skin side down, on a steamer - positioned over a bottom bowl, and cover with the Navigenio hotplate upside down.

Place the meat in a steamer, skin side down.

Grill it with the Navigenio hotplate upside down, just like how we
cooked Char Siu and Siew Yoke/Roast Pork

3.  Switch the Navi hotplate to #4 and grill for 15minutes. 

4.  Turn the chicken pieces skin side up and grill for another 5 minutes until crispy and golden.  Switch off the Navi hotplate, remove the meat onto a plate and let it rest for about 5 minutes before cutting into bite size pieces using a meat scissors.  Serve immediately.

Total cooking time - 20minutes.

The skin is sizzling in its own oil, crispy and golden. 
There is no basting or adding any additional oil.

The meat is perfectly cooked and juicy.  No pinkish parts.

The oil that has dripped down into the bottom bowl. 
Reduced risk of clogged arteries...unless you want to keep this
to cook chicken rice (;p)

The next two dishes can be cooked using the same 28cm roasting pan.  Steam the fish first, then use it to steam the vegetables.  After that, just serve the vegetable dish straight from the pan;  all AMC Cookware has been designed with pleasing aesthetics in mind.


Thai Style Steamed Fish

No more boiling some water in a wok and then steaming the fish over a rack with boiling water.  No need to check the clock or look for signs that the fish is cooked (eg. the fish's eyeballs have popped out - so grose :p).

AMC's waterless cooking method simplifies the whole process by steaming the fish straight in the pan, and using the Audiotherm to control the cooking and notify you when it's done.

The AMC 28cm roasting pan is ideal for steaming and stir frying.

• 500g Red Snapper or Tilapia, gutted and rinsed clean
• 5 slices of ginger, slivered
• 3 fat pips of garlic, minced
• Juice of 5 large limes or 2 lemons
• 2 tsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• Dash of soy sauce
• Chopped chinese parsley for garnishing

1.  Cut two slits on each side of the fish and arrange on a AMC 28cm roasting pan, pour all the seasonings onto the fish (except the chinese parsley) and cover. 

I forgot to take photos of the cooking process, this was another
steam fish using the same 28cm roasting pan, as illustration

2.  Switch on the Navigenio hotplate to #5, attach the Audiotherm to the cover knob (the Visiotherm), set the timer to 5 minutes and turn the Audiotherm to the "carrot" point.

Illustration only.  The Audiotherm should be set to 5 min (not 10min).

 

3.  Once the internal cooking heat in the roasting pan has reached "carrot" point (this will only take a few minutes), the Audiotherm will beep.  Remove the Audiotherm, switch off the Navi hotplate, and let the pan sit on the hotplate (it is still very hot and the fish inside the pan is continuing to cook) for 5 minutes.  The Audiotherm will beep again to notify you that the 5 minutes is up and it's time to serve the fish.

4.  Remove the cover and adjust the taste.  Garnish with the chopped chinese parsley and serve immediately. 

Total cooking time - between 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of the fish and thickness.

Steam Broccoli with Mushrooms and Scallops


My mum hardly steam vegetables.  She would blanch them in boiling water for a few minutes, sift out the cooked veg and pour away the water - with all the nutrients from the veg! 

AMC's steaming method retains the nutrients from the vegetables by steaming them in the same pan.  Vegetables retain their colour, texture and nutrients. 

The natural vibrant colours of the vegetables are retained

For naturally "dry" vegetables such as ladyfingers, sprinkle some water
before steaming.  The texture and colour remains, and the ladyfingers do not turn mushy or yellow.

• 200g bunch of broccoli, trimmed into bite size florets
• 1 medium size carrot, cut into thin diagonal slices
• 3 medium size scallops, softened with hot water, separated into thin strips
• 3 large dried mushrooms, softened with hot water, sliced thinly

1.  Rinse the broccoli florets and put inside a AMC 28cm roasting pan.  Do not drain the broccoli until too dry, leave some droplets of water clinging onto the broccoli florets.  Add in the carrot, scallops and mushrooms.

Place the pan on the Navigenio hotplate and switch to #5 heat.

2.  Cover, switch on the Navigenio hotplate to #5.  When the Visiotherm (the cover knob) reaches the "carrot" point, switch off the hotplate and let it sit for another 3 minutes. 

3.  Open the cover and pour in the seasonings, stirring to coat the vegetables well.  Serve immediately.

I like to made extra batch of ginger and garlic oil for steaming dishes such as the above.  You can pre-make the oil (first 4 ingredients) and only add in the oyster sauce and stock powder during actual cooking.

Pre-cooked seasonings

• 2 fat pips of garlic, minced
• 2 slices of ginger, slivered
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp normal oil
• 2 tbspn oyster sauce
• 1/2 tsp chicken stock powder

Total cooking time - less than 10minutes.


Easy isn't it.  These are three regular dishes that I enjoy cooking with AMC Cookware.  So much easier, faster and cleaner than using the conventional gas stove. 

For more information on AMC's range of cookware, including its Premium System range and the Navigenio hotplate, please click HERE.

Tonjiru - Japanese Pork Miso Soup

Hi folks, I'm back from our short family getaway to our Southern neighbour, Singapore.  We spent 5 nights there, had lots of yummy food and soaked up the Christmas festivities in perfect weather (cloudy and cool days with no rain). 

Christmas Menu : Entree - Roast Pumpkin Fries with Herb Yogurt Dip

This is a very easy starter to prepare.  Pumpkin fries is a much better alternative to potato fries as they have more nutrients than the good ol spud (and a lower carbo index too). 

Christmas Menu: Soup - Jamie Oliver's Mushroom Soup

Picture taken from the website www.dailyrecord.co.uk

It's just 8 more days to Christmas! On one hand, I'm excited and looking forward it, but on the other hand I can't help feeling wistful and a bit reflective that it's another year drawing to a close. Now where did I put that list of resolutions for 2012?! :P

 

Nevertheless, I will always remember 2012 as the year where this blog began :) It has truly been an enjoyable experience - a new passion, new hobby, new friends, and LOTS of new recipes.

 

Bring on 2013!

 

 

To round off this year on a festive note, I will share some ideas for a Christmas meal that is easy and delicious.  It is a 4 course meal and a drink at the end.  Some of the food can also be prepared in stages beforehand, so you can plan and spread out the work and leave the final stages just prior to the actual mealtime. This means you will actually be able to sit down and enjoy the meal with your family and guests without feeling (AND looking) like a stressed out/frazzled cook!

 

Christmas Menu: Soup - Jamie Oliver's Mushroom Soup

 

When we were young, mushroom soup means Campbell.  And honestly, I love it.  Back then, to us kids campbell mushroom soup was an occassional treat when the family goes out for a Western meal.

Fast forward to current times, the good ol mushroom soup has evolved into a glamorous, hoity toity item on the menu called wild mushroom soup.  Order it at some fancy restaurant and expect it to be cooked with dried porcini and Mascarpone cheese, served with crostini (what is that?!).  Our humble canned shroom soup has certainly gone high class.

If you are making it at home, the beauty is you have the liberty to pick and choose the ingredients that go into your soup.  I love all the different varieties of mushroom available, and for this soup, I like to use Swiss brown and white button mushrooms, and a few packs of those beautiful Japanese hokto brown and white straw mushrooms. 

I served the soup with some homemade toasted cranberry bread

Christmas Menu: Dish #1 - Jamie Oliver's Mushroom Soup
Source:  Jamie Oliver "the real mushroom soup", with adjustments

• 450g of mushrooms, roughly chopped or sliced (mix of white and brown button mushrooms and hokto straw mushrooms).
• 1 small red onion, diced
• 1 pip of garlic, minced
• 1 small russet potato, roughly choped
• 600ml water
• 200ml full cream milk
• 1/2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
• Pinch of lemon zest
• Truffle oil
• Olive oil
• 1/2 tsp chicken stock powder
• Generous dash of salt and freshly ground black pepper

1.  Heat some olive oil and gently fry the onion and garlic until fragrant.  Add the potato pieces and water.  Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 10-20min until the potatoes are softened. 

2.  Add the mushrooms, half of the chopped thyme, chicken stock powder and bring to another boil.  Let simmer for 10min.

3.  Use a handblender and blitz into a rough textured soup.  Add the cream and season with rock salt and pepper. 

4.  Pour into serving bowls or soup plates, drizzle a circle of truffle oil on top and sprinkle with lemon zest and the remaining chopped thyme.  Serve immediately.

If mushroom soup is not a favourite at home, how about a hearty bowl of creamy leek and potato soup?

Click HERE for the recipe.