5.01.2006

Mini Filo Fruit Cups

Heart-shaped ones
Mini cups
To make the Filo cups, cut filo sheet into squares. Spray Pam or "I can't believe its not Butter" between each 4-6 layers of filo sheets. Place on muffin or heart-shaped tray. Bake for approximately 10 minutes. Cool it.
Top with Nutella ( its Chocolate- Hazelnut spread). Add desired fruits. Optional. Lightly coat the fruits with syrup. Enjoy!

Cream Puffs

This is an unhealthy but good treat...hehe. Love Cream Puffs. :D

Ingredients:
water 1 cup
margarine 1/2 cup
salt dash
flour 1 cup
eggs 4
vannilla/chocolate pudding/ whipped cream icing sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 F or 230 CAdd water, margarine, and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil.Stir in flour all at once. Combine stirring vigorously until mixture forms a ball, approximately 1 minute.Remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool lightlyBeat in the eggs, one at a time, until the mixture is smooth after each additionDrop 1/4 cup of the smooth batter on an ungreased baking sheet.Bake for 15 minutes at 230 C. Lower heat to 160 C and bake for an additional 25 minutes.Remove with sptula and cool away from a draft.Slice between the puffs.Fill it with pudding and whipped cream....ENOY!

Yuri's version...
Use milk instead of water-milk, 250 grams-butter, 100gSalt, dash Granulated sugar, 1 tablespoonFlour, 150 gEggs, 4.5Custard;Egg yolk, 4Granulated sugar, 100gMilk, 500cc (0.5 liters), 2-3 cupsFlour 40gButter, 20 gramsVanilla bean, 1Put milk and vanilla bean together. Boil until bubbles form. Add egg yolk and beat it in another bowl. Add granulated sugar and beat until white, into the egg yolk mixture. Add flour and mix it with the egg yolk mixture. Add ½ of boiled milk to the bowl and mix it. Put the whole egg yolk mixture to the pan to heat until the first big bubble is seen. Keep mixing gently to prevent burning. After the first bubble, take out from fire, add butter and mix it. Lay it on a flat tray. Wrap the tray, sticking it to the custard to prevent air presence as it will cause bad texture. Cool it in the fridge.

Vegetarian Sushi

There are many different variations of sushi and almost any type of ingredient can go in! We made vegetarian sushi! The one we did was "o-e-shi" ( which means delicious in Japanese) :D. It's one of the best I've ever tasted since it came straight from Yuri's heart. Furthermore, she's an authenic vegetarian Japanese :D

INGREDIENTS:

spinach::::add it in when the water is boiling and when it is cooked, remove from the water and squeese out any excess liquid. )

carrots ::: shred finely OR slice them horizontally. Boil it in soy sauce water until soft. OR, using the korean version, pan fry it with soy sauce until soft.

dailkon:slice or shred horizontally

tamago/ egg::::There's a special way of cooking the Jap. egg. It has to be cooked slowly, layer by layer. + Lots of sugar has to be added, with a pinch of salt. For example, for 4 eggs, 2 T of sugar to 1/2 t of salt. Beat them together with a fork before cooking.

cucumber, :::is thinly sliced

lettuce::: has to be washed and dried before used. Cut into 1/2.

fresh or dried shitake mushrooms::: for fried ones, soak it in hot water to soften it. Fry it in hot oil and add soy sauce to taste.

asparagus spears (par-boiled and cut into half),

Tofu steak :::cut into 1/2 strips soaked in Terriyaki sauce over night. Next day, bake it at 480 for 20 minutes or pan fry it. When pan-fyring, heat oil and cook until golden brown on both sides.

Fri-chik or vegetarian meat (sliced thinly)

~~~

Directions:
1) Cook rice. While hot, add seasoned rice vinegar (measurement needs to follow the package). Set aside.
2) See above for ingredient prep.
3) Set Makisu (bamboo sushi roller). Lay seaweed sheet on Makisu and put rice on top. Spread rice evenly over seaweed 1/4 thick. Add Mayo and sprinkle with 1 Tbsp. sesame seeds. In the front part, place any of the ingredients mentioned above or you desire). Roll the whole sheet until you form a complete cylinder shape. Press tight when finished to keep the shape. Cut into 8 pieces. Serve with soy sauce and wasabi, if preferred.

Veggie Meat Balls

A healthy easy-to-make meat ball for vegetarians. It can pass for a thanksgiving dish too.

Ingredients:
3 cups of prepared stuffing (dry) or 2 bags of dried bread crumbs1 1/2 cup chopped walnuts1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar2 beaten eggs 9or 3)1/4 chopped onions (very fine)1/2 t sage1-2 tsp pizza/ italian seasoning

Directions:
Mix all together evenly. Heat up skillet to medium heat and light coat with oil. Foam into balls about 1 1/2 ". Fry until slightly browned.

Decoration: Steam/ boil green beans for 30 seconds until bright green. Add salt, herb seasoning and butter/ olive oil.

Sinfully Good Brownies+frosting!

I can't over-emphasize how good this tastes....yuuuummmyy....it's a friend's mum recipe. An unhealthy dessert if you carefully analyze the ingredients BUT all of us need a once-in-a-while treat right!? ;) hehe...


Ingredients:
(A)
-4 square chocolate
OR Hershley chocolate powder + Crisco shortening (follow directions on the can- to measure most accurately, get a measuring cup, fill it to 3/4 water and make sure it goes up to 1 after the addition of crisco to ensure it is 1/4 cup)
-3/4 cup cup margarine

(B) 2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour

(C) Frosting
1/2 cup margarine
1/4 cup cocoa powder
6 T milk

Directions:
First, microwave (A) until melted
Secondly, add (B) to the bowl in (A).
Use an electric mixer to beat everything together.
Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes in greased 9 x 13 pan until center is almost clear.

Frosting
Combine (C) in saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from fire and add 1 t vanilla, 1 boxed sugar. The boxed sugar can be substitutted with 2 cups of powdered sugar or adjusted until a froth is obtained.

Finally, add the frosting on the brownies and leave it to cool. It must be cooled before cutting.
Before serving, sprinkle some powdered sugar

Sarah's gourmet veggie cream cheese delight


This is my friend, Sarah's recipe. She made it for several of her friends' weddings and everyone loved it.
Mix 1 block of cream cheese + 1 tablespoon of ranch. Spread it over the crackers. Top with sliced (seedless)cucumber, tomato, yellow (any color but yellow stands out amidst the green and red) pepper.
Sprinkle dill weed over.

Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes + freshly whipped cream

The name might not attract you but believe me, it tastes divine! A friend in class made this and although it seems complicated, it is not. :)

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
-3 Tbsp sugar
-2 tsp. baking powder
-1 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or 1/2 tsp each of cinammon sugar and ginger, and 1/4 tsp nutmeg)
-3/4 tsp salt
-1 1/3 cup milk
3/4 cup canned pure pumpkin
-4 large eggs
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Whipped cream- 1 cup heavy cream
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1 tbs confectioner' sugar

Directions:Whisk 1st 5 ingredients in a large bowl to blend. Whish milk, pumpkin, egg yolks, melted butter and vanilla in medium bowl to blend well. Add pumpkin mixture to dry ingredients; whisk just until smooth (batter will be thick). Using electric mixer, beat egg whites in another medium bowl until stiff, but not dry. Fold egg whites into batter in 2 additions. Brush, using large non-stick skilled pan with oil. Working in small batches, pour batter in 1/3 cup onto pan. Cook until bubbles form on surface of pancakes and bottoms are brown, about 1 1/2 min. each side. Repear. Serve with syrup. optional: nutsWhipped cream-In a bowl, whip cream until stiff peaks are just about to form. Beat in vanilla and sugar until peaks form. Make sure not to overbeat, cream will then become lumpy and butter- like.

Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies

MY FIRST BLOG!!
Since I enjoy cooking, I thought that it might be good to jot down all the ideas and recipes. For example, Yusheng is a once-a-year dish that I make and I would always forget how I made it before because it is a collection of various individuals, restaurant-eating and recipes that make it delicious. Hence, I hope that posting up the recipes will help me keep track of what I've made that were good! So...........my first post! Since this was the thing that just happened.....
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Got this "treasured" recipe from an aunty. Her husband loves her home-made cookies so much that he has been eating them for the last 20 years since they got married. Would you believe that he has never bought cookies since then? You might be thinking, "wow, these cookies must be good." Oh yes, they are! (Girls, this is a must-try recipe! You'll never know when you have to bake it for your boyfriend or husband...haha ;p )

Note: For healthier alternative, add organic ingredients, sub. "Can't believe its not Butter" for butter, etc.

Ingredients:
2 sticks butter
1 C (slightly less) brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
3 c flour (1+1+4/5)
1 c chocolate chip ( 1c + a little more)
1 c walnuts
"Healthy" cookies: used "Can't believe its not butter", 1/2 the amount of brown sugar stated in the recipe, organic eggs, organic unsweetened chocolate chips, organic walnuts, 2C wholemeal flour.

Directions:
Mix butter and brown sugar.
Add eggssaltbaking soda
MIX/ Beat using electric mixer
Add vanillaflourchocolate chipwalnuts
Spoon onto baking sheet.
Bake for 1/2 hr or until brown.
Disclaimer: All the recipes posted are for my personal references and/or adapted from mentioned instructors or books. They/I reserve the rights to it. Please remember to cite your sources! Thank you.