AMC Soy Sauce Chicken

When I was still working, I received many emails circulation telling people why it's no good to consume too much chicken. I'm not sure if you have received similar emails before but the content is somewhat about chickens being injected with steriod to speed up the growth of the chicks. I got paranoid and restricted consumption on these chicks.

Last month, I received an email from a forumer about chicken wings. I don't know what got into me but after receiving that email, I wrote in to Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore to verify. The reply from them is very consoling so I'm back to eating my favourite chicken wings again ^-^

This is cooked using my AMC recipe book. Noticed that I've removed all the skin prior to cooking? :P

Steamed some broccoli and fried onion eggs (oh, this is one of my favourite dish, and dd1's too) to go along.

Quick & Easy Breakfast

When I do not have time to prepare breakfast, I always give the kids breakfast cereals with milk. No preparation needed, just open up the pack, pour and serve :P

I was out for breakfast with sister C last Friday and I walked passed Ya Kun. Immediately I got "inspired", I could have prepared half-boiled eggs for them instead of the boring breakfast cereals (though I give them assortment all the time). This is the first time dd3 is taking half-boiled egg and I'm glad she's taking it well. Unlike her siblings, she doesn't eat her solids very well. But I'm happy as long as she's eating, even 1/2 bowl is good enough :)

This was cooked using my AMC pot and it's done in just a few minutes. No need to fill up water and soak the eggs. I just love my AMC pots!

Steamed Cream Cracker Cake

While I was at the supermarket last week, I bought a packet of Cream Cracker biscuits as I've got this recipe for the longest time and as usual, procrastinating baking again. Personally, I'll very much prefer a steamed cake over a baked cake. I don't know if there is any scientific proof but I always thought steamed cakes ain't as heaty as baked cakes. Anyone knows?

The original recipe calls for baking in a 7" pan but I baked it in my 8" round and this explains why it's such a short cake.


Texture of this cake is soft and moist but not as fragrant as the Marie Biscuit Cake. Then again, it's so much easier to crush cream cracker than marie biscuits so I'm sticking to this recipe for now. And most importantly, the children enjoy this cake, even dd3 kept asking for more :)

Crabstick and Cheese Quiche

I'll never expect myself to prepare such a dish for I'm not a quiche lover. In addition, I don't like to spend too much time preparing something so "complicated". When I say complicated, I'm actually referring to the time incurred to prepare this dish. Making the pastry, resting it in the fridge, rolling out the pastry and rest in fridge again, blind-baking, cooling it before adding fillings etc... For a homemaker with 3 kids in tow and home alone, this is definitely one challenging task. I have totally no idea what to prepare for dinner and I hope to try out new recipes for my family, so I decided to bake a quiche.


The recipe for this pastry is too much for my 18cm tart pan so I made another smaller one. I'm still a novice where rolling pastry is concern. The side of this smaller quiche somehow "shrunk" while baking. I guess I didn't lay it properly prior to baking.

This pastry recipe was shared by Hugbear in M4M but I later found out that My Culinary Journal has a similar recipe too.

Recipe
Pastry

175g flour

pinch of salt

90g cold unsalted butter, diced

1 egg yolk, beat lightly

2-3 tbsp iced water

Fillings

7 crabsticks, sliced thinly

60g grated cheese

2 eggs

1 cup milk
some spinach, chopped

Method

1. Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Rub in butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
2. Make a well in the centre and add in beaten egg yolk and water until the pastry draws together.
3. Roll out pastry to fit 23cm (9") fluted flan tin. Chill for 30 mins.
4. Preheat oven 200°C. Line pastry with a sheet of greaseproof paper. Pour in some beans and bake 15 mins. Remove the paper and beans. Return the pastry to the oven for another 10 mins. or until the base looks dry.
5. Cool pastry before filling. Reduce the oven temperature to 180°C.
6. Scatter sliced crabsticks all over the base of pastry. Sprinkle the cheese over crabsticks.
7. In a jug, whisk together the eggs and milk. Put the flan tin on a baking tray, and pour the egg mixture into the pastry shell.
8. Bake for 35-45 mins. or until set and golden.

Meat patties

DS2 asked for hamburger but I didn't have time to bake any bread. Went through some recipe books and got this inspiration, meat pattie with mashed potatoes. Using a similar Cheese & Herb Burger recipe, I made them into meat balls instead. I didn't quite follow the recipe but use it as a guide.

I happened to have some Roman Lettuce in the fridge, added some Japanese cucumber, tomatoes and apples and we had salad (Italian Dressing) to go along with the meat balls.


Ingredients
250g beef mince
1 egg, light beaten
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup dried breadcrumbs
2 tsp low-salt soy sauce
2 tsp low-salt tomato paste
2 tsp finely chopped coriander
2 tsp finely chopped chives
30g low-fat cheese, grated
1/2 cup dried breadcrumbs, extra

Method

1. Combine mince, egg, onion, breadcrumbs, flavourings, herbs and cheese in medium mixing bowl. Using your hand, mix well. Divide mixture into eight equal portions.
2. Roll mince portions in extra breadcrumbs. Press mixture into egg rings to give a patty shape.
3. Heat medium non-stick frying pan. Brush pan with a little oil if necessary, to prevent burgers from sticking. Cook burgers over high heat 2 - 3 mins each side. Remove from pan, drain on absorbent paper.

Fried Mee Tak Mak (老鼠粉) & Bacon Golden Mushroom Rolls

I was first introduced to this dish by my mother. Actually, I've not tried her version but she told me my siblings, nieces and nephews all love this dish. She told me the steps to cook this but being forgetful all the time, I can only remember 50% of what she said. And afterwhich, I forgot all about this until I saw a similar recipe in Kitchen Capers. This gave me an idea of what goes into the "wok".

I like my AMC pots alot as I don't have to add much oil for cooking. For my general cooking, I use about 1 teaspoon of oil. Not sure if you can tell from the look of this pic, the MTM is not oily at all :)


For sides, we had steamed broccoli and bacon golden mushroom rolls.

I'm unable to give any specific recipe but here is the list of what goes into the my pot.

Fried Mee Tak Mai
Ingredients
Onion oil (may replace with vegetable oil if you do not have onion oil)
Garlic, chopped
Dried shrimps, chopped
Mee Tai Mak
Bean sprouts
Cooked chicken breast, shredded
Chicken stock
Spring onions, diced (optional)

Seasoning
Dark Soy sauce
Light Soy sauce/Fish Sauce (I use either one)
Sesame oil
some pepper

Method
This is my mom's method but I didn't follow as I cook it using my AMC pot.

1. In a wok, add onion oil to heat.
2. Add garlic and dried shrimps, stir fry till fragrant.
3. Add balance ingredients and seasonings and give it a quick stir to mix.
4. Cook till chicken stock has dried up slightly.
5. Serve.

Bacon Golden Mushroom Rolls
Ingredients
6 streaky bacons
1 packet Golden Mushrooms

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Wrap streaky bacon over golden mushrooms and use a toothpick to secure.
3. Bake for 20 mins or till bacon is cooked.

Hearty oatmeal breakfast

Rolled Oats

Quote from Wikipedia

"Whole oats are an excellent source of thiamine, iron, and dietary fiber. Fiber is helpful in reducing cholesterol levels in the bloodstream. Whole oats are also the only source of antioxidant compounds known as avenanthramides; these are believed to have properties which help to protect the circulatory system from arteriosclerosis. Oat products also contain beta-glucan, which may help Type 2 diabetics control their blood sugar level, and might also help stimulate the immune system to fight off bacterial infections.[1]"

It's not difficult to have a healthy yet delicious breakfast for the kiddos. My 2 elder children loves sweet oats and my youngest likes savoury oats. I cook this for them at least once a week for breakfast and sometimes if I run out of ideas for dinner, I cook savoury oats for the children. For sweetened oats, I usually add dried cranberries and/or raisins. Today, I added cranberries, prunes and bananas.