Cheesy Baked Rice With Ham, Mushroom & Corns

It's been a while since the last time I made baked rice. Suddenly the crave set in :P
Saw one recipe at Ju's blog, The Little Teochew, looked so yummy!
And yes, it was, indeed!

 

I didn't use carrots but added sweet corns since my kids love it. I used frozen corns

Also I added fresh button mushroom, sliced

 

What you need:

(for two portions)

 

7 tbsp chicken stock

2 tbsp cream

1 tsp corn flour, diluted with a little water

2 rice bowls overnight cooked rice

breakfast ham, sliced

200g sliced button mushrooms

a few handful of frozen corns

a knob of butter

3 garlic cloves, minced

grated cheddar and mozzarella

grated parmesan

 

Method:

1. In a saucepan, bring chicken stock and cream to a boil. Add corn starch liquid. Stir till the mixture thickens. Set aside
2. In a wok, melt some butter. Fry the garlic till fragrant. Add ham, followed by corns and mushrooms. Add rice. Break up all lumps. Mix well
3. Pour butter fried rice into a casserole dish. Pour chicken stock mixture over. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese
4. Top with lots of grated cheddar and mozzarella
5. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 10mins (it's for small casserole, for bigger size, please adjust the timing accordingly) at 200 degrees C or until the cheese browns to a golden crust. Serve piping hot

I'm submitting this post to Little Thumbs Up April - Corn, organised by Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids and hosted by Esther from Copycake Kitchen.

Spam Fried Rice With Corn

Yeah, spam is not healthy... But everyone would agree that it's really yummy LOL
I guess it's forgivable to enjoy it once a while :)
I balanced up with scrambled eggs and corns to make me feel less guilty and also my kids love corns so much
I also chose light spam which claims to have 25% less sodium *grin*

Inspiration is from Rasa Malaysia

What you need:

3 cups overnight steamed rice

2 1/2 tbsp oil

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 cloves of garlic, minced (I used 3)

6oz  spam, cut into small cubes (I used 2/3 can)

1 cup frozen vegetables, defrost (I used 1 1/2 cup frozen corns)

Salt, to taste

Seasonings:
1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce (I used 2 tbsp)

1/2 tbsp fish sauce

1/4 tsp sesame oil (I used 1 tsp)

1 tsp garlic oil (I added)
1 tsp dark sweet soya sauce (I added)
3 dashes white pepper

Method:

1. Break up the lumpy overnight rice with the back of the spoon or fork
2. Mix all the ingredients for the seasonings in a small bowl
3. Heat 1/2 tbsp oil in a wok over high heat and cook the eggs first. Use the spatula to break the eggs into small pieces. Set aside
4. Reheat the wok with the remaining 2 tbsp oil and stir-fry the garlic until aromatic
5. Add the spam pieces and stir-fry until light brown before adding the corns. Stir to combine well
6. Add the rice into the wok and use the spatula to stir-fry continuously until the all the ingredients are well blended
7. Add the seasonings into the wok, blending it well with the rice and ingredients
8. Return the cooked eggs into the wok and combine with the rice. Dish out and serve immediately

I'm submitting this post to Little Thumbs Up April - Corn, organised by Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids and hosted by Esther from Copycake Kitchen.
 

Grilled Fish In Mango Sambal Sauce & Bittergourd Tomato Soup

Delicious dishes I had to remind myself about how much rice I took LOL

Grilled milk fish in mango sambal sauce

 

 

Recipe is my mum's, which she got from her mum.. simple yet so yummy :)

What you need:

1 large milk fish - washed and cleaned
5 large red chillis, cut
2 red bird's eye chillis (or more)
a thumb size of fried belachan (shrimp paste)
salt, sugar
dark sweet soya sauce
juice of a large lime
green mango, grated

Method:

1. Preferably to cook the fish in the pressure cooker 2 cycles first to soften the bones (milk fish is notorious in having a lot of little tiny bones besides the big ones too)
2. In a lightly oiled pan, grill fish in the oven using top fire til cooked for both sides
3. Put chillis, fried belachan, salt and sugar in food processor til quite smooth
4. Add dark sweet soya sauce and lime juice into chilli mixture and mix well
5. Spread chilli mixture over the grilled fish and eat with grated green mango

Bitter gourd tomato soup

 

 

Recipe is from Peng's Kitchen, a very tasty soup with minimum artificial flavourings, very healthy kind of soup, we all love it!

What you need:

1 large bitter gourd
4 tomatoes
2 large carrots
2 slices ginger
300g lean pork, pounded
salt to taste

Method:

1. Blanch lean pork in boiling water for 1 minute. Drain away water
2. Remove seeds of bitter gourd and slice in small chunks. Cut tomatoes in quarters
3. Slice carrots into small chunks
4. Place all ingredients in a pot with about 3L water, except salt
5. Bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer for 2 hours. Season with salt

I'm submitting this post to:

* Grilled milk fish in mango sambal sauce: Aspiring Bakers #29：Heirloom and Local Dialect Recipes 家传菜/ 籍贯菜 (March 2013 ) hosted by FHL of Faith Hope Love

 

* Bitter gourd tomato soup: Little Thumbs up with theme of the month of March: "Tomato", organised by Doreen from my little favourite DIY and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, hosted by Doreen from my little favourite DIY

Sun-Dried Tomato Bread (Bread maker)

This bread is such a great pair with the fresh tomato soup I made the other day
I made it from the scratch using bread maker from the kneading part all the way to baking
I couldn't be more satisfied with the result, tasty and soft too with crisp crust
Unfortunately, I didn't have the chance to take a snap of the whole loaf, as I baked this loaf in the evening and waited for the next day to get morning sun, and by that time, I only saw two slices left! :)

What you need:
(500g loaf)

230ml water
2 tsp oil from sun-dried tomatoes
350g bread flour
25g finely grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp dried yeast
50g well drained sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

Method:

1. Pour water and oil into the bread maker pan, followed by bread flour, cheese, salt, sugar and yeast
2. Choose programme for basic bread, choose the level for your preferred crust and weight of the loaf
3. Let the machine starts. After 5 minutes kneading, pour in sun-dried tomatoes
4. (those with bread maker with auto dispenser can place the sun-dried tomatoes in it before the machine starts)
5. Let the machine does the rest of the process (about 3 hours)

I'm submitting this post to Little Thumbs up with theme of the month of March: "Tomato", organised by Doreen from my little favourite DIY and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, hosted by Doreen from my little favourite DIY

Fresh Tomato Soup with Basil (Delia Smith)

I love this soup
Really tasty and goes well with chopped fresh basil
And it's extremely delicious eaten with toasted bread, in my case - sundried tomato bread

First time saw this soup at Yen from Eat Your Heart Out, drooled over it and decided to give it a go. So glad I did! :)

What you need:

600g ripe tomatoes, quartered with skin on
1 medium onion, chopped small
1 medium potato, chopped small
1 1/2 tbsp cooking oil
275ml chicken or vegetable stock
1 clove of garlic, crushed
2 tsp chopped fresh sweet basil, to garnish
some cream
salt, black pepper

Method:

1. Heat oil over medium fire, add onion and potato, cook for about 2 minutes
2. Lower to low heat and soften slowly without browning, stir every few minutes, about 10 minutes
3. Add in tomatoes, cook for 1 minute. Pour stock and stir
4. Season with salt, pepper and garlic
5. Cover and allow to simmer for about 30 minutes
6. Blend briefly to puree the soup
7. Garnish with fresh basil, and swirl 1 tbsp of cream on each bowl before serving

I'm submitting this post to:

* Little Thumbs up with theme of the month of March: "Tomato", organised by Doreen from my little favourite DIY and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, hosted by Doreen from my little favourite DIY

 

 *Cook Like A Star hosted by Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, Baby Sumo from Eat your heart out and Mich from Piece of Cake

 

 

 

 

Avocado Tomato Salsa (Delia Smith)

Allright, I'm not a trend setter, I'm a trend follower instead
Everytime Cook Like A Star launches the star chef of the month, I always start with browsing through their website, or their cookbook if I own one
And then I'll look through what others make, and almost 100%, I'll end up listing down what I shall make from them
And this month is no exception either LOL

Another mouthwatering dish from Delia Smith I saw at Mich from Piece of Cake I coudn't resist :)

What you need:

1 ripe firm avocado
2  firm tomatoes
1 shallot (I used 3)
1 tbsp fresh lime juice (I used large lime)
1 heaped tbsp chopped fresh coriander (I used 2 tbsp)
a few drops of tabasco sauce
salt, black pepper
sugar (I added)

Method:

1. Skin the tomatoes b y pouring boiling water over them, leave it for a few minutes, drain and slip skin off when cool to handle
2. Cut in half, hold each half over a saucer (cut side down), squeeze gently to extract seeds
3. Chop tomato finely
4. Halve avocado, remove stone and cut each half into quarters and peel off the skin
5. Chop into small dice, while slice the onion thinly
6. Combine everything in a bowl, add in seasoning, lime juice, coriander and tabasco
7. Civer with clingwrap and leave in the fridge for at least an hour before serving

I had this refreshing salsa with my homemade chicken burger, delish!
I will make this again with grilled salmon, just like what Mich did
Thinking about it makes me drooling already, yum! :)

I'm submitting this post to:

 

* Little Thumbs up with theme of the month of March: "Tomato", organised by Doreen from my little favourite DIY and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, hosted by Doreen from my little favourite DIY

 

 

 

*  Cook Like A Star hosted by Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, Baby Sumo from Eat your heart out and Mich from Piece of Cake
 

Below are blogging friends cooking and baking using recipes from Delia Smith :)

Pineapple Tarts & Gong Xi Fa Chai!

I made this recipe for Chinese New Year two years ago
I didn't bake any last year since I was in the midst of unpacking in my new place

I love this recipe, melt in the mouth pastry, not too sweet and very easy to handle dough
I do in fact have many other pineapple tart recipes I love to try, but let me start with this first :)

 

 

This recipe is from Fresh From The Oven as recommended by Small Small Baker

 

What you need:

 

For the pastry:

220g butter

375g all purpose flour

2 egg yolks

50g icing sugar

2 tbsp cornstarch

 

Method:

1. Sieve all purpose flour, corn flour, salt and icing sugar into a medium bowl
2. Beat butter in a mixer until it turns light in color and fluffy
3. Add in egg yolks until well combined. Slowly beat in the flour mixture until just combined
4. Flatten the dough using roller and shape accordingly. Put pineapple paste on top (1tsp each)
5. Bake in a preheated oven at 180ºC for 10 to 15 minutes or till lightly brown

 

For the pineapple paste: 

The first time I baked using this recipe, I used ready to use pineapple paste from Bake King

I mixed with pineapple juice and juice from half lemon cos I find the paste is too dense and sweet

This time I did my own pineapple paste

Here's how you make it...

1. Cut into chunks 4 pineapples, blend with just enough water to let the blender works
2. Add in juice of 1 lemon and 1 cinnamon stick, let it boil
3. Upon boiling, on low fire, simmer til it starts to thicken
4. Add in 6-8 tbsp of sugar (depending on the sweetness of the pineapples), mix well
5. Continue to simmer til thick and dry

* Note:

For open tarts, it's better not to use paste that is too dry, since it's exposed to the oven heat

 

 

I'm submitting this post to:

 

*  Chinese New year Delights 2013 hosted by Sonia aka Nasi Lemak Lover

* Little Thumbs Up (February: Pineapple) (hosted by Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids and Doreen from My Little Favourite DIY

 



 

 

Last but not least, I and family would like to wish all of you a very happy Chinese New Year 2013! Enjoy your holiday :)