Pasta with Homemade Chicken Meatballs

Paired with my favourite wine, we had this yummy pasta dish with homemade chicken meatballs for dinner..First time making my own meatballs..i was surprised it was really easy to make and the end result : succulent and delicious...earning me praises for the hubs...Do give this a try..the meatballs recipe is perfect for 2.

You need :

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast (minced using the blender attached with mincing blade)
1/2 big onion (chopped thinly)
1/4 cup grated cheddar + parmesan cheese
2 cloves garlic (minced)
salt and black pepper powder to taste
some chopped parsley and fresh coriander
1/2 of a beaten egg
1/3 cup breadcrumbs

olive oil for frying

Mix all the above ingredients together in a bowl and make into balls...Heat some olive oil in a non-stick pan. Place the chicken meatballs in 2 batches and pan fry till all sides are golden and meat is cooked. Remove from pan and put aside.
Meanwhile, cook your favourite pasta..I used whole wheat spaghetti. Warm up a bottle of pasta sauce..I used Prego Chunky Garden sauce. Once sauce is cooked, turn off heat, add in the meatballs and coat. Serve hot with the pasta.

Black Pepper Mushroom Masala

Yummy vegetarian side dish..easy and quick to make...perfect even on weekdays.

 

I used :

1 packet of  fresh oyster mushrooms (sliced)
1 onion (sliced)
3 cloves garlic (minced)
1/2 inch ginger (sliced thinly)
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/4 tsp garam masala
1 tomato (sliced thinly)
salt
cracked black peppercorns (according to ur taste coz I like it spicy)
water
fresh coriander

Method:

Heat olive oil in a non-stick pan. Fry onion, garlic, ginger till fragrant. Add tomatoes and oyster mushrooms. Add in the coriander, cumin and garam masala. Mix and add in a little water to cook. Lastly add in salt and black peppercorns. Mix well. Garnish with fresh coriander. Serve hot with white rice.

Linked this to : http://cooking4allseasons.blogspot.com/2013/09/announcing-side-dish-mela-with-giveaways.html

Sweet Wheat Porridge

Today I'm blogging from my very new Sony Vaio I bought yesterday....one word to describe it : Awesome...
Haha...with the Touchscreen, Apps and the sound system....(I'm yet to explore it further)...I would say I'm so loving my new toy ;)
So, this week's post...Sweet Wheat Porridge...also called Bubur Gandum in Malay, is one of my husband's fav so this is done upon request.
My first try but as usual..a success ;). Here goes :

Ingredients :

250gm wheat pearls
1 litre water
2 pandan (screwpine leaves) ,knotted
150 ml thick coconut milk - from fresh coconut
150 gm sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Method :

Wash the wheat pearls until water runs clear. Soak for 30 mins.
In a pot, bring water and pandan leaves to a boil. Add the wheat pearls and allow to boil for 5 mins before lowering the heat and to simmer till wheat pearls are soft to touch (about 20-30 mins)
Add more water if needed. Add in the coconut milk, sugar and salt. Bring to a quick boil. Make sure sugar is dissolved. Turn off heat. Serve warm or cold ;)

Wholemeal Banana Cake

Looking for THE banana cake?
Look no further...this cake ticks off all the points : Moist, healthy, eggless, nutty even without any nuts, easy - without a need for the mixer, fast yet delicious....
Now, here goes...my version of Wholemeal Banana Cake ;)

Ingredients :

1 cup low protein flour
3/4 cup wholemeal (you can get it from baking supply store)
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup low fat milk
2 ripe bananas (well mashed)
1/2 cup canola / sunflower oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Method :
Heat oven to 180C. Prepare a loaf pan.
In a mixing bowl, sift in the flour, add the wholemeal, salt, baking powder and sugar. Mix well.
Add in the milk, oil, vanilla and bananas. Gently mix till combined. Do not overmix and it will make the cake dense and not moist.
Pour in the loaf pan and bake for about 35 - 40 min or till ur cake tester comes out clean.
Goes well with a cuppa.

Link sent to : whats-with-my-cuppa-2 and http://uk-rasoi.blogspot.com/

 inking this recipe to Shruti’s ‘Sweet Celebration’ Event
 

Afternoon tea at Ritz Carlton Kuala Lumpur

As my husband was leaving for his Masters, we decided to go for a short outing..and it was our first outing with our baby daughter and we wanted to make it a special one. After going through various sites, we finally decided on Afternoon Tea at the Ritz Carlton. Well, it was indeed pleasant and relaxing, not to mention that my daughter was behaving like an angel, letting her parents enjoy their ' me time' together (she was just 2 months then).
When we were ushered into the lounge, we were welcomed by their friendly staff and by the soothing music coming from the harp...yes, they actually had a lovely lady playing at the harp and the music enveloped the lounge...letting us forget the outside world for the moment.

My peach tea

Our table was all ready (with delicate English tea cutlery) when we reached and once we were seated they brought in a trolley full of their tea selection for us to choose from. They had 4 types of tea...fruity, black, green and herbs (if i recall correctly). They let you smell the samples of a few and then they will freshly brew it for you. I asked her for their best selling from the fruity selection and chose the Peach Tea.....my, it was the most refreshing tea Ive tasted....
My husband being the coffee person, decided to have his Mocha (his fav coffee flavour) and it came with a sugar coated stick at the side for you to stir with to get the right amount of sweetness...awesome ;)

Our 3 tier delicacies

Their selection of warm scones with clotted cream and jam, lovely sandwiches and cakes were also nice....Overall, we had an awesome, relaxing tea..with some nice shots of us takes around the lounge..;)

Us

My awesome hubby

Shweta having her own 'me' time

Hokkaido Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream

My dearest dearest friend Davina was quitting her current job and moving back to her hometown so we gals planned a small farewell for her...sort of a dinner gathering here in Seremban..So, me and my fren Joann planned to make a surprise cake for the occasion. First we wanted to make a chocolate caramel ombre cake but I couldnt get the muscavado sugar that was needed so we changed the plan and decided on a White Chocolate Tiramisu cake. Unfortunately, we couldn't find white chocolate, sponge fingers and even mascarpone on that particular week...Well, it was truly dissapointing. So I went to the hypermarket, grabbed whatever I could find, bearing in mind that I will somehow come up with plan the next day. When I reached home and started pondering on what I could make with whatever that I have in hand, I realized I had long bought the hokkaido cupcake liners and I've always wanted to give it a try...so, here goes...our first attempt (me and Joann's) at Hokkaido cake.....

The cake turned out nice and we got lots of praises but to me it needed to lighter and lacked the melt in the mouth texture that I was hoping for. Nevertheless, it was a lovely light cake which we had for dessert and the strawberry cream was awesome.

The original recipe is from Nasi Lemak Lover,,I followed the recipe given...changes I made:
- I used canola oil as I didnt have corn oil
- I doubled the recipe for the strawberry cream
- I could make 8 cupcakes with this recipe

Ingredients :

3 egg yolks
20 gm sugar
35 gm canola oil
60 gm milk
70 gm cake flour

3 egg whites
25 gm sugar

Strawberry Cream :

120 gm whipping cream
30 gm icing sugar
about 4-5 fresh strawberries (pureed)

Ice cubes and ice water

Method :
Preheat oven 170C.
Arrange paper liners on baking tray,
Hand whisk egg yolks and sugar till pale in colour. Add in oil and milk. Mix. Sift in cake flour, stir till combined, keep aside.
Beat egg whites till foamy, gradually add sugar and beat till soft peaks form. I used a hand held electric beater.
Take 1/3 of egg white mixture and add to yolk mixture. Mix with hand whisk. Fold in balance egg white into yolk mixture and mix with spatula till combined.
Scoop batter into liners (3/4 full) and bake for about 20-25 mins on middle rack. Mine took 20 mins.
Once done, leave on wire rack to cool.

Meanwhile, beat whipping cream and sugar till firm and stiff (over a bowl of icy cold water).
Add in strawberry puree, mix well.

Pipe cream into cupcakes. Refrigerate before consume.

This is a pic of all of us last week during the meet :)


 Linking this recipe to Shruti’s ‘Sweet Celebration’ Event

Onion Egg Masala

• 2 – 2 ½ tbsp olive Oil
• 2 sprigs Curry Leaves
• 1 ½ tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
• 2 large Onions Sliced
• 3 Green Chilies slit vertically and cut into half
• 2 tsp Coriander Powder
• ½ tsp Turmeric
• 1 ½ tsp Chili Powder (adjust to taste)
• 1 tomato sliced
• Salt to Taste
• 6 Eggs boiled and peeled
• Cilantro to garnish

Preparation:

• Make slits on the boiled eggs. Arrange in a serving plate.
• In a pan heat olive oil, add curry leaves, ginger garlic paste and saute for a few seconds.
• Add onion and saute until translucent. This should take about 2-3 minutes.
• Add green chilies, coriander powder, turmeric, chili powder, tomato and salt. Stir well until all the spices are mixed well.
• Cover and cook for few minutes until onion and tomato are well cooked. Remove the cover.
• Fry for few more minutes, turn off the heat and transfer to the serving dish by poring the gravy on the eggs. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.  

• The original recipe obtained from http://www.myspicykitchen.net/ 

Vegetarian Whole Wheat Spaghetti

This is a pasta dish suitable for vegetarians...full of flavour and quick to make...great even on weekdays.

I used whole wheat spaghetti for this and could not see any difference from the other variant...so, a healthier choice it is...

Ingredients :

Whole wheat spaghetti - enough for 2
1 can Prego sauce (tomato, basil and garlic)
3 cloves garlic (minced)
1/2 carrot (cut into small cubes)
4-5 button mushrooms (sliced)
1 tbsp dried oregano
1/2 - 3/4 tsp paprika
salt and ground pepper to taste
fresh oregano and garlic bread (to serve) - You may warm up some frozen garlic bread
olive oil

Method :

Boil spaghetti in a pot with some olive oil added to the water. Once cooked, drain and keep aside.
Heat olive oil in a non-stick pan and saute the garlic till fragrant. Add carrots. Cook a while and add mushrooms. Once carrot is cooked, add in the pasta sauce, paprika, oregano, salt and ground pepper. Cook till sauce thickens (You may also add in some water if needed). Once sauce thickens, switch off the stove and add in the cooked and drained spaghetti. Toss together and serve hot with some fresh oregano and garlic bread.

Linked to : Healthy Diet Lunch Box Recipes and Priya;s Healthy Diet Page