{ Breakfast : Grilled Portobello Mushroom with Ham, Bacon and Poached Egg }

This was last Saturday's breakfast which was some of our favourite food that I have combined together as a meal. 

I have the oven working on the mushroom and cheese, the grill pan on the bacon and the deep pan on the poached egg at the same time, while I prepare the salad.

For the Portobello Mushrooms, I spreaded 1/2 teaspoon of butter and seasoned it with salt and pepper.  I let it grill in the oven at 250c for 10 minutes.  In between grilling, I turned the mushrooms and let it the other side of the mushroom soak up and juice and continue grilling.  Just before the mushrooms are done, place 1 or 2 slices of ham on the mushroom to heat it up.

I sprinkled some Shredded Parmesan Cheese on a piece of baking paper and let it turn brown and crisps at the same time as  the mushrooms are grilling.

Meanwhile, pan grill the bacon till they are brown and crispy. Let them sit on paper towel to drain excess oil.

While the rest are cooking, have a a pan or pot filled with water deep enough to cover eggs.  Let the water be in a gentle simmer.  You will see tiny bubbles from the base of the pan or pot but the water should not be jumping. reduce the heat to the lowest you can get just to maintain heat.  Add a teaspoon of vinegar to the water. 

Now, crack the egg into a bowl (I'm using cold eggs).  Gentle pour out into the pan with hot water.  Let it simmer for about 4 minutes or to your preferred done-ness.  Use a slotted spoon to gentle remove the egg.  You can do a few eggs together or one at time.

Dish the mushroom with ham on the plate. Gently place the poached egg on the mushroom. Top with bacon, Break the Parmesan chips into smaller pieces and sprinkle over. Drizzle with truffle oil and season with salt and pepper.

Breakfast is served.

{ Breakfast: Creamy Ham & Cheese on Thick Toast }

I used to order a similar Toast from a certain Tea Room (茶餐厅).  I haven't have this for a long time as I find it too expensive.

I have already forgotten how it tasted like since it has been a few years since I had this.  Making my own version for breakfast today.

Ingredients:

• 2 slices Thick Bread
• 2 slices Ham
• 2 tablespoon Japanese Mayonnaise
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 tablespoon Mozzarella Cheese
• 1 tablespoon Parmesan Cheese
• Paprika
• Dried Parsley 

How to do it:

1. Dice ham and mix them with Worcestershire Sauce and Mayonnaise.
2. Spread the mixture on bread.
3. Top with both Cheese.
4. Sprinkle on Paprika and Dried Parsley.
5. Toast in preheated oven at 240c for 5 mins or till the cheese melts and starts to brown.
6. Serve immediately.

{ Breakfast : Ham and Cheese Sandwich }

The kids made their own breakfast today.  They had Pizza Bread and had some ingredients left.

I stir-fried the leftover button mushroom with a little butter and seasoned it with a pinch of salt.  In the same pan, I did some Caramelised Onion.  I added those two items to my ham and cheese sandwich while it's hot so they could melt the cheese a little. ^_^

I did a Crabstick and Corn Salad with the remaining kanimi surimi and corn to go with my sandwich.  I topped the salad with the tobiko left from dinner two days ago.

This got to be one of my favourite breakfasts 'cos it has got everything that I love; even though they were made from leftovers.

{ Dinner: Pan Grilled Chicken Chop with Ham and Cheese } 火腿芝士鸡扒

I had to run some errands yesterday and didn't plan for dinner.

Before I headed home, I dropped by Cold Storage and bought a tray of (4pcs) boneless chicken thighs for under $10.

I went home and dug into my fridge for other ingredients and decided to make this for dinner. It was a rush job, all done under an hour for 4 servings. As I didn't have enough time to marinate the chicken well, I used honey baked ham and cheese to further enhance the taste.

I'm pleased that the rushed out dinner wasn't that bad. ;)

Ingredients:

• 2 Chicken Drumstick or Breast, deboned
• 4 slices Ham Baked Ham, cut into strips
• 4 slices Cheese

Optional Ingredients:

• 10 - 15 New/Baby Potatoes or any potato of your choice, scrubbed and cleaned (skin if you prefer not to have the skin on)
• 2 Carrot, skinned and chop into smaller pieces.
• 3 medium Onion, cut into half (I'm using red onions here)

Marinade:

• 1 teaspoon Dried Thyme
• 2 teaspoon Dried Rosemary
• Rind of 1 Lemon
• 1 teaspoon Chicken Powder or Salt
• 1 teaspoon Light Soy Sauce
• 2 tablespoon Lemon Juice
• Sprinkle of  Ground Black Pepper (optional)

How to do it:

1. Clean and dab chicken meat dry.
2. Add marinade to chicken meat and blend well with the meat..
3. Set aside for 1/2 hour.
4. Heat grill pan with a tablespoon olive oil.
5. Grill chicken skin down first for about 2 mins, till brown.
6. Turn over and continue to grill the other side of the chicken till it's completely cooked.
7. Place ham on top of chicken chop; skin side up and top with cheese.
8. Cover and continue grilling for a 10-15 seconds till the cheese starts to melt.
9. While pan grilling the chicken meat, prepare the vegetables, if you are serving it with the chicken chop.
10. Boil the vegetables in a pot of lightly salted water for 10-15 mins till they are tender. This is to cut down cooking time. I usually just let them roast in the oven.
11. Drain and set aside.
12. Pan fry 3 strips of diced streaky bacon till lightly brown. 
13. Pan grill the onion at the same time while pan frying the diced bacon.
14. Add in the drained vegetables and toss well in the oil.
15. Transfer the vegetables and roast at 240c for 15 mins.
16. Sprinkle with some salt and set aside to be served.
17. Serve chicken chop with roasted vegetables.

Note:

• Oil Splatter Alert! I'm using a HCP grill pan to cook it. If you do not have one, use a pan with a cover.
• If you do not have an oven to roast the vegetables, you can pan fry them lightly but it will take a longer time as you have to turn them one at a time to avoid burning them.

{ Breakfast: Egg in Ham Cup }

If you follow me on Instagram, you will recognise this meal. I shared it in early October and forgotten about it because my baby sister's wedding and the kids' examination period was around the time.

I will be busy again as my daughter agreed to participate in a recital just today with a rehearsal next Wednesday!! And full dress rehearsal ... next Friday!!! The actual recital is on 24 November. I don't even have time to go hunt for her dress and shoes! Sigh!

I hope she really can manage it. Keeping fingers and toes crossed for her. And I thought I can relax a bit now that the exams are over. :/

Sharing this easy peasy breakfast idea (while I still have the time to sit in front of my lappy), though a bit late. Maybe you can try this weekend.

You will need muffin tray or cup, preferably shaved ham, 2 slices for each cup, an egg of course, some additional chopped veggies or bacon and sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

You just need to push the ham in the muffin cup, crack the egg into it. You can break up to egg if you like. Add some chopped veggies and sprinkle the cheese. Bake it at 200c for 15 mins and Viola!

I served it with Cheese Bread and Mushroom Soup.

Mac and Cheese with Ham Gratin 芝士火腿烤意大利粉

Many years ago, my BFF Shirley and I frequent this Japanese Restaurant at Scotts Isetan very often after work. I always order their Macaroni with Teriyaki Chicken Gratin. (I'm a boring person).

It's different from the American's Mac & Cheese, which is basically Macaroni with Cheese Sauce, if I'm not mistaken. This Japanese Macaroni Gratin, is not as thick or over loaded Cheese Sauce. It's more like a cream sauce with Cheese in it and the top is baked with golden Parmesan Cheese. It could be other Cheese though but I'm sure it's not breadcrumbs that gives it the colour. ;) And it goes really well with the succulent Teriyaki Chicken, which I shall add on the next time I improve on this dish. :)

The restaurant has closed years ago and we haven't found any Macaroni and Cheese Gratin quite close to theirs. As much as I tried my best to replicate the dish, I too didn't come close to it.

Well, if you would like to try making your own Mac & Cheese Gratin instead of buying the instant ones from the supermarkets, you might like to try my recipe. At least, it helps clears out Cheese scraps for mommies who are into making bentos for their kids.

Ingredients (for 1 portion only):

• 60g Macaroni or Assorted Pasta
• 50g Chopped Ham
• 1-2 tablespoon Parmesan Cheese

Sauce:

• 15g Butter
• 100ml Cooking Cream
• 120ml Water
• 1 tablespoon All Purpose Flour
• 2 slices Cheddar Cheese
• 1 slice Regular Cheese

How to do it:

1. Cook macaroni in salted water according to the package or till just done.
2. Pour them in a oven proof dish and set aside.
3. Meanwhile, melt butter in a pan on low heat. Butter should not be burning.
4. Gradually add in the flour and whisk till smooth.
5. Turn up the heat to medium low and gradually add in the cooking cream while whisking.
6. Repeat the same for the water.
7. Add in the ham.
8. Melt the cheese in the sauce till all has blend in.
9. Pour the sauce over the cooked macaroni. Mix them if you like.
10. Top it with Parmesan Cheese.
11. Baked in a preheated oven at 220c for 10 mins.
12. Serve hot.

Notes:

• Do not cook the roux (butter with flour) in high heat as it will burn and the roux will turn dark.
• The amount of water add depends on how thick you want the sauce to be. Hence, add gradually and stop adding if you think the sauce is thin enough for you.
• I recommend you use 2 slices of cheddar cheese with 1 slice of regular or mozzarella. You can have any combination you like.
• For those who do not have an oven, you may serve it after step 10, with salt and ground pepper to taste, if you like.

Cooking a perfect looking egg 煎一粒漂亮的荷包蛋

Last week I shared my dinner shots (below) on Facebook, some of my friends asked how I manage to cook it this way.

The egg white is soft, has no hard and brown bits, not rubbery and not oily. The egg yolk is runny like soft-boiled egg. ;)

My kids hate eating sunny side up (fried egg) that is hard at the bottom and the egg yolk dry. You won't get that with the eggs I do. ;)

I got to admit that I learned this little trick from a tv program many years ago and have since never fry an egg the usual way. What you need is just an extra tablespoon of water!

Interested to do it too? You don't have to wait further. Today, I'm going to share with you what I have learned; and with a video too!

The video is at the end of this post but first, here are the details and instructions:

Items needed:

• a non-stick pan with cover or lid
• 1/2 tablespoon (or lesser) Cooking Oil
• a piece Paper Towel
• 1 Egg (I'm using 60g refrigerated egg)
• 1 tablespoon Water

How to do it:

1. Use low heat. The pan should not be smoking at any time. *1
2. Add the cooking oil and swirl to coat pan.
3. Use a paper towel to remove excess oil and at the same time coat pan well with oil. *2
4. Crack egg onto the middle of the pan.
5. Let the egg cook for 40 seconds, still on low heat. *3
6. Tilt the pan a little. If more egg white spread out, let it cook a few seconds more. The thicker part of the egg white around the egg yolk will still remain raw. *4
7. Add water and cover the pan.
8. Let it cook for 45 seconds. *5
9. Remove cover.
10. Dish out and serve.

Note:

1. I'm using the highest heat on the inner small ring on my stove.
2. The idea is to coat the pan well with oil so the egg doesn't stick. We are not using the oil to fry the egg.
3. The timing used is according to the egg used. If you are using smaller or unrefrigerated egg, please shorten the time.
4. This is a little test to check if you are ready to add water. If the outer egg white (not the thick part near the egg yolk) is half cooked, it will spread when water in added and it will look ugly. Imagine egg drop soup :P
5. If you want the egg yolk more cooked, cook a few seconds longer.

And here's the video ...

Baked Portabello with Ham and Cheese 火腿芝士烘烤褐菇

Sometimes, I can be so busy at (house) work that I totally forgot to eat. :P It happened again last night. I was feeling hungry after mid-night and realised I had skipped dinner.

I didn't want to do too much cleaning and washing so I used the oven to bake myself these to go with some cabbage salad.  Incidentally, this is the first recipe that got me to start my food blog. It was a dish that I had at a cafe at Borders, which I was trying to replicate.

You can have a look the original 1st version of the recipe here and the 1st revision to the recipe here. This is my 2nd revision. ;) I can only say that I'm glad  it's looking better each time. :P  Maybe I should really consider doing a revision of all my older recipes here. :)

Ingredients:

• 1 Portabello Mushroom (I'm using medium sized here)
• 1 teaspoon Butter
• Sprinkle of Garlic Powder
• 2 tablespoon coarsely chopped Ham
• 2 tablespoon Perfect Italiano's Pizza Plus or a mixed of Mozzarella, Cheddar and Parmesan 
• Parsley Flakes (optional)

How to do it:

1. Remove stalk from mushroom and clean it with a damp cloth.
2. Spread a little butter on the cap of the mushroom and spread the the rest on the underside. If you have butter spray, use that instead.
3. Sprinkle some garlic powder
4. Bake in preheated oven at 200C for 5 minutes.
5. Remove and sprinkle some cheese, place ham and cover with the remaining cheese.
6. Bake at 220C for 15mins or till cheese melts and brown a little.
7. Remove and top with parsley flakes if you like.
8. Serve immediately.

Egg, Ham and Cheese in Pandan Crepe三色香兰卷

If you have been making Ham and Cheese Sandwich for your kids and they no longer longer show interest in eating it, this might be a good alternative.

I did a small modification to my original recipe. I added cheese and using pandan paste instead of pandan juice. Yes, it's not natural but it saves lots of time and work. You can still go ahead to use the home made pandan juice or you can leave the crepe plain too.

Ingredients:

• 100g Plain flour, shifted
• 3 Eggs
• 150ml Water
• 2-3 Ham, sliced in strips
• 1-2 slice Cheese, cut into strips
• 1/2 teaspoon Pandan Paste
• a pinch of Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Sugar

How to do it:

1. Stir in water to flour slowly.
2. Add in 1 egg.
3. Add pandan paste to make the batter green.
4. Add in the salt and sugar.
5. Beat egg and set aside
6. Using a non-stick pan, pour in some pandan batter.
7. Let the batter spread into a thin crepe.
8. Turn it over and remove when both sides are cooked.
9. Using the same pan, slowly pour in 1/2 of the beaten egg.
10. Let the egg mixture spread into a thin egg crepe.
11. Turn it over and remove when both sides are cooked.
12. Place the egg on the cooked pandan crepe.
13. Put cheese and ham strips on one side and roll both egg and pancake together.
14. Cut into smaller pieces, hold with food picks and serve.

Note:

• The pandan batter makes about 4 crepes.
• You might need 2-3 eggs, depending on the size of your eggs, to make the same number of egg crepes.

Easy Pizza 简易比萨饼

It has been raining non-stop recently. The kids are stuck at home most of the time. I decided to let them make pizza for dinner to pass time.

They get to have some fun and I get to make them eat what they made. ;p My kids don't eat pizza. Hence I told them if they want to make it, they will have to eat it too. I'm glad my plan worked because the elder one finished almost the whole pizza and the younger one finished half of it.

Using Wraps as Pizza Base

I used Wraps as the pizza base and pasta sauce for the pizza sauce. I prepared a few ingredients that the kids would like and some that they didn't. *trying my luck* They went ahead to prepare the pizza that they like.

I baked the pizza at 200C for 15 minutes and the easy peasy pizzas are ready to be eaten!





In case you are interested, I have prepared hot-dog, ham, canned button mushroom, pre-cooked bacon, tomato, bell peppers, onions and Mozzarella Cheese.

My pizza, using whatever the kids have left over and what they didn't want.
It has lots of bell pepper, onions & tomatoes. I love it! ;)

Baked Cheesy Mushroom Pot

I had leftovers of some ingredients and decided to put them all together and voila! Only thing missing is perhaps pasta and cream here. But I guess my family didn't care. They like it with rice too. Actually, they are not fans of pasta anyway. ;)  

Ingredients:

• 1 clove Garlic, minced
• 1/3 tablespoon Oil
• 4 Shitake Mushroom, sliced
• 3 Button Mushroom, sliced
• 1 King Oyster Mushroom, sliced
• 1 Streaky Bacon, chopped into bits
• 1 slice Ham, chopped into bits.
• 1 slice Cheese (Kraft singles)
• 1 handful Mozzarella Cheese
• 1 tablespoon Parmesan Cheese

How to do it

1. Heat oil in wok.
2. Add bacon and garlic and cook till garlic is fragrant.
3. Add in ham and mushroom.
4. Stir fry till mushroom are 90% cooked.
5. Pour into a oven proof dish.
6. Tear the singles cheese and mix well with the mushroom.
7. Top mushroom with Mozzarella Cheese followed by Parmesan Cheese.
8. Bake at preheated oven at 190C for 12 minutes or till cheese melts and brown slightly.
9. Remove and serve.

Note: This the a dish of leftovers. You don't have to follow exactly what I use. You can use only one type of mushroom if you like. I just want to finish all that was left in my fridge.

Baked Portabello Mushroom with Ham and Cheese

I started blogging in mid June 2006. No, it's not my Blog's aniversary post. It all started when I make friends with some mummies in a parenting forum and continued to chatting on MSN. We are still in contact and had recently met-up with one of them all the way from Dubai. :)

Anyway, I was just learning how to cook then and we often exchange pointers, err ... maybe me getting more cooking pointers out from them. :P I was tried replicating the particular dish I had from the Cafe from Borders I had years ago and was chatting about it with my friends.

It occurred to me that it would be so much easier if I had it record down (somewhere) so anyone who is interested can see it. ( I didn't know it's blogging then. hehehe ...) Then one of friends told me to try MSN Space which was giving me lots of problems after 3 months and I decided to move 'house' to Multiply and I got all my friends to start blogging there too. And that started the blogging craze in my little circle of online friends. I moved 'house' 3 months later to Blogger and settled down here in December 2006.

Well, that's my (food) blogging history and that dish that started all these is ... Baked Portabello Mushroom with Ham and Cheese. I'm posting this dish and some of the other 'older' dishes later with the little changes I made in cooking them. If you have not been cooking a particular dish you once loved, maybe it's time to heat up your wok and surprise your family with the familiar taste.  

Ingredients:

• 1 Portabello Mushroom (I'm using medium sized here)
• 2 teaspoon Butter
• 1/2 slice Ham, cut into 3 or able to fit mushroom
• 1/2 slice Cheese
• Parsley Flakes (optional)

How to do it:

1. Remove stalk from mushroom and clean it with a damp cloth.
2. Spread some butter on the cap of the mushroom abd put the rest on the underside. If you have butter spray, use that instead.
3. Put the mushroom with underside up.
4. Bake in preheated oven at 180C for 2 minutes.
5. Turn the mushroom around and continue bake for another 1 minutes.
6. Turn the mushroom underside up again and place ham on it and spread a little butter on the top ham. If the mushroom is to dry add more butter.
7. Bake for a 1 minute.
8. Top with cheese and continue baking till cheese melts.
9. Remove and top with parsley flakes if you like.
10. Serve immediately.

Ham and Cheese Omelette Sandwich

If you want to have a heavy breakfast this is what you should eat.

My kids hates baked beans and the creamy oozing cheese. hmmm ... In the end, I finished it all by myself. Since I'm a small eater but had to be a glutton, I had to skip lunch as I was so bloated. Hopefully they will grow up to like this. They don't know what they are missing.

Ingredients:

• 1 Egg, beaten
• 1 slice Ham of your choice, chopped into bits
• 1 slice Cheese of your choice, chopped into bits
• 1 - 2 slice Bread of your choice, toasted
• 1 tablespoon Baked Beans, steamed if preferred
• 2 Lettuce Leaves
• 1/3 teaspoon Oil

How to do it:

1. Heat pan with oil.
2. Pour egg mixture and swirl it around to coat the pan.
3. When the egg is set at the base but still not thoroughly cooked, sprinkle ham and cheese to one half of the egg.
4. Fold the egg over to cover it.
5. Gently press the edge of the egg to let it seal.
6. Flip is over to fry for another 13 seconds.
7. Dish out.
8. On a plate, place the lettuce on the bread.
9. Scoop the baked beans on the lettuce.
10. Plate the ham and cheese omelette on top.
11. Squeeze some tomato sauce on top if preferred.
12. Add another slice of bread if this is not filling enough for you.

Note:

• Try using luncheon meat in place of ham too. Taste great too.
• I cut the omelette in halves and have it like a sandwich. A bit messy but I prefer to eat with hands. *wink*

☆ Click HERE for printer-friendly version of an original recipe.

* Ham and Cheese Omelette with Baked Bean at the bottom *

Salami/Ham and Cheese Toast

I have a Guest Chef today, WokkingBoy. LOL I know he would love to make tea for both of us, so I 'invited' him to do it. I became his assistant and prepared all the ingredients for him.

Ingredients:

• 2 slices of bread of your choice
• 3 slices of cheese of your choice, cut into 6 strips each
• Toppings of your choice (we had shaved Breakfast Ham and Salami)
• Parmesan Cheese

How to do it, in the Chef own words:

1. Wash your hands and dry them first.
2. Take a piece of bread and put on a plate.
3. Put 3 pieces of cheese (he meant the cut strips) over the bread.
4. Put the ham over the cheese; put A LOT. (we did ham first)
5. Put some more cheese. Must put nicely. Don't anyhow put. Won't be nice later.
6. Put the breads in the toaster and wait for a while.
7. See the cheese are all melted. (8 minutes, the assistant took note of the time)
8. Can take them out. Must wear glove - long ones.
9. Put some Parmesan Cheese.
10. Okay, can eat now but too hot for me.

Note:
The assistant cut the Salami in quarters and chopped the shaved ham in smaller pieces because it was a bit difficult to cut them nicely.

* Guest Chef, WokkingBoy, in action *

Tri-colour Roll 三色卷

My friend told me this recipe she made for her kids. Her was just dual colour. I add in ham to make it a tri colour. Hehehe! Seriously, I doubt my son will eat it without ham. I don’t want to waste my effort.

Ingredients:

• 100g Plain flour, shifted
• 2 eggs
• 150ml Water
• Ham, sliced in strips
• 1 tablespoon Pandan Juice (depending how thick your juice is)
• Salt to taste

How to do it:

• Stir in water to flour slowly.
• Add in 1 egg.
• Add pandan juice to make the batter green.
• Add a pinch of salt.
• Using a non-stick pan, pour in some batter.
• Let the batter spread into a thin pancake.
• Turn it over and remove when both sides are cooked.
• Using the same pan, slowly pour in ½ beaten egg.
• Let the egg mixture spreed into a thin egg 'skin'
• Turn it over and remove when both sides are cooked.
• Place the egg on the cooked batter (pancake).
• Put ham strips on one side and roll both egg and pancake together.
• Cut into smaller pieces and serve.

Note:
I prefer the pancake and the egg to be thin so it’s easier to roll and eat. If you prefer thicker ones, add more batter. If you have older kids, you can try adding cooked chicken strips instead of ham. If you don't want to use pandan juice, you can use green food colouring instead.

Baked Portabello Mushroom with Ham and Cheese 褐菇烤火腿芝士

Ingredients:
(All depends on the size of the mushroom you get)

• Portabello Mushroom or Brown Cap or White Button Mushroom
• Salted butter, cut into cubes
• Ham, cut into bits
• Cheese, cut into smaller pieces if using small mushroom

How to do it:

1. Remove stalk from Mushroom.
2. Clean it with a damp cloth.
3. Add a cube of butter on the mushroom.
4. Bake in the toaster for 5 mins, turn it around to bake for 5 more mins. If the mushroom is to dry, add another cube of butter.
5. After that, turn the mushroom around again.
6. Add ham and cover it with cheese.
7. Bake for another 3 mins.
8. You can add herbs if you like.
9. Serve hot!

Note:
The remake of this dish and the 'story' on how this blog started can be found HERE.