Butter Cookies

It''s Children's Day and I thought I'll bake the kids some cookies. I don't want to bake their favourite though but something that they will still like.

I wanted to make the cookie bigger but didn't have a big star tip. I used another tip and it didn't turn out as nice. Plus I suck at piping.

This cookie is buttery and crumby. I'm glad the kids like it even though the outlook was not as pretty. However, my son said it's not sweet enough for him so I melted some chocolate chips and dip some cookies into it. Kids are so hardto please sometimes. :P

Ingredients:

• 120g Unsalted Butter, soften
  
• 70g Icing Sugar
• 1 Egg
• 160g Top Flour
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence

How to do it:

1. Beat butter and sugar till smooth.
2. Add egg and vanilla essence and mix well.
3. Sift in flour and mix well to form a soft dough.
4. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
5. Put dough into a pipping bag with a star tip.
6. Pipe onto a lined baking tray.
7. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 15 minutes.
8. Cool before storing in a airtight container.

Sambal Okra and Squid

This is one of my favourite dish. I will only make this when my husband is not coming back for dinner. Noone at home eat this. :( I have to coach my son on his work after his dinner so I don't have that much time to cook an additional dish just for myself. Not to mention the additional washing to do.

You probably know, I cook separately for my kids as they have their dinner earlier. I don't like to eat cold food hence I'll cook again when my husband's back for dinner. Imagine the amount of time spend just to make dinner. Okay, blame me for being fussy. :P


Ingredients:

• 1 medium Squid
• 15 Okra aka Ladies' Finger, sliced
• 5 Cherry Tomato or 1 Tomato, cut into quarters
  

Chilli Paste:

• 4 Fresh Red Chilli
• 8 Dried Chilli
• 6 Shallot
• 4 clove Garlic
• 1 stalk Lemongrass
• 1/3 tablespoon Belacan
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• Salt to taste

How to do it:

1. Remove soft bone and innards of squids.
2. Cut squids into rings.
3. Set aside.
4. Grind all ingredients for chilli paste, except for sugar and salt, together.
5. Heat wok with 1 teaspoon of oil.
6. Stir fry chilli paste till fragrant.
7. Add sugar and salt to taste.
8. Leave to cool.
9. In a wok, heat 1/2 tablespoon oil..
10. Add squid and stir fry till half cooked.
11. Dish and set aside.
12. In the same wok, heat 1/2 tablespoon oil.
13. Add in okra and  tomatoes.
14. Stir fry for a minute.
15. Add in the chilli paste.
16. Stir fry for 8 minutes or till well cooked.
17. Dish and serve.
18. Add in squid to marinade for at least 30 minutes.
19. Place squid with chilli paste on banana leaf.
20. Grill in preheated oven at 180C for 15 minutes or till cooked.
21. Remove and top with fresh shallot sliced and drizzle with lime jucie.
22. Serve immediately.

Note:

• If you prefer it more spicy, use chilli padi instead of regular chilli for the chilli paste.
  

Grilled Spicy Prawns

I had wanted to cook Laska but realised that I have forgotten to get a couple of ingredients. -_-" I'm glad I didn't make Laska anyway as my husband had to work late. I won't be able to finish all of it myself.

I decided to grilled the prawns instead. I just need to blanch some veggies, a bowl of soup and rice and my dinner is settled. And the good thing is I can repeat the same thing for my husband when he returns home as it's so easy and fast to prepare. No cold and leftover dinner. :)

Oh, my kids don't eat this. They eat much earlier and they have their own dinner menu. ;)

Ingredients:

• 10 Medium to Large Prawns, shelled and devien
• 1 tablespoon Sweet Chilli Sauce
• 2 tablespoon Lemon Juice
• Zest of 1/2 Lemon
• 1 tablespoon Chopped Basil
• Olive Oil for brushing
• A dash of pepper
• A pinch of salt

How to do it:

1. Combine all ingredients together.
2. Marinate prawns for 15 minutes.
3. Pierce a wooden skewer or in my case, a stalk of lemongrass through 3 prawns.
4. Brush oil on the grill pan.
5. Grill the prawns for 2 minutes on each side or till cooked.
6. Remove and serve immediately.

Note:
The grilling time depends on the size of the prawns. Don't over cook the prawns as the prawns will become dry and hard.

Groupa with Fermented Black Bean

This is another fish dish for my husband. My kids hate it. Seriously, I don't quite like it either. :P It's the fermented black beans. I never like it since young as it reminds me of the eggs of ...... I didn't even dare touch it before. But my husband loves it though.

Having said that, there's nothing wrong with the taste especially after adding the dried Tangerine Peel. I just need to get over the appearance of the beans. :P

Ingredients:

• 300g Fish Fillet (I use Grouper here)
• 2 tablespoon Shredded Ginger
• 1 1/2 tablespoon Black Bean Paste (Please refer below)
  
• 1/2 tablespoon Oil

Black Bean Paste:

• 100g Chopped Fermented Black Beans
• 1 teaspoon Chopped Dried Tangerine Peel
• 1 tablespoon Chopped Garlic
• 1/2 tablespoon Sugar
• 1 tablespoon Oil

How to do it:

1. Heat oil in wok.
2. Add all ingredients except sugar and stir fry till fragrant.
3. Add sugar and stir fry further till ingredients well mixed and fragrant.
   
4. Dish and set aside.
5. Arrange ginger on a plate.
6. Place fish on top.
7. Spread black bean paste over fish.
8. Steam for 10 minutes or till cooked.
9. Sprinkle spring onions and chilli on fish.
10. Pour hot oil over fish.
11. Serve immediately.

Note:

• Salt is not included as fermented black bean is already salty.
• Add the fermented black bean paste according to your taste.
  

Chicken and Bamboo Pith (Thick) Soup 竹笙鸡丝羹

One of my son's favourite soup but mind you, he doesn't take much of the ingredients in it, which is why I added lots of imitation snow crab meat. I have thicken the soup for variation but you don't have to if you don't like it.

Ingredients:

• 1 litre Chicken Broth
• 1 Chicken Drumstick or Breast
  
• 5 Fresh Shitake Mushroom, sliced
• 2 Bamboo Pith aka Bamboo Mushroom, soak to soften and cut
  
• 5 Imitation Snow crab meat.
• 1/2 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
• 1 teaspoon Light Soy Sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon Chinese Cooking Wine
• 1 Egg white or whole egg, beaten
  
• Cornflour mixture (thickener)

How to do it:

1. Cook chicken in broth.
2. Remove chicken when it's cooked.
3. Shred the chicken meat.
4. Add shredded chicken, mushroom, bamboo pith and crab meat to the broth.
5. Bring to a boil and let it simmer for another 15 minutes.
6. Add in oyster sauce, light soya sauce and Chinese cooking wine.
7. When the soup starts to boil again, gradually stir in the cornflour mixture to thicken the soup.
8. Turn off the heat and stir in the beaten egg immediately.
9. Serve.
   

Maple and Herb Lollipops 迷迭香枫蜜棒棒鸡

Wow! Another long absence. I have been really busy. The kids have more enrichment/tuition classes. Hence, I'm out of the house most of the day and I have to wait around waiting for their classes to finish.

Some of you might know, my son is in the afternoon class and so his tuition classes are in the morning when his sister is in school. And when he is in school in the afternoon, it will be his sister's turn to go for enrichment. Now you know why I'm out most of the day. By the time we reach home, it will be time for me to cook for dinner. Oh and not to forget the tons of housework waiting for me to clear too. By the time I finished everything, I'll be too tired to sit down in front of the computer to blog (sometimes too late!).

I'm still here though. But I might not be able to reply to your queries. If you really need me to clarify any of my recipes here, you can post them on the chatbox. I'll try to get back as soon as I can.

Okay, here's a recipe you can try during the weekends. I bet the kids will love. :)

Ingredients:

• 10 Chicken Drumlets
• 2 tablespoon Maple Syrup
• 1 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
• 1 teaspoon Dark Soy Sauce for colour (optional)
• 1 teaspoon Pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon Dried Rosemary or 1 1/2 teaspoon fresh Rosemary, stem removed and chopped

How to do it:

1. Scrape meat from 'skinny end' of the drumlet and push the meat down to form a 'ball'.
2. Mix all the other ingredients together and marinate the drumlets with it for at least an hour.
3. Heat a saucepan with oil.
4. Fry the drumlets till they turn golden brown.
5. Drain and serve immediately.

Note:

• I won't suggest you fry and serve it later as the drumlets will turn slightly hard when it's cold due to the maple syrup.
• You can also use honey instead of maple syrup.