Deep-Fried Fish With Tangy Sauce

Deep-Fried Fish With Tangy Sauce

Recipe source :  Adapted from Amy Beh

Ingredients

600g Tilapia
Oil for deep frying
1 tbsp chopped garlic
3 chilli padi
1 stalk spring onion, cut into sections
1 sprig coriander leaves,  cut into sections

Fresh  tilapia

Seasoning Ingredients

1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 1/2 tbsp cornflour

Sauce Ingredients

3 tbsp fish sauce
3 1/2 tbsp lemon juice (fresh)
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil

Method

1.  Make diagonal cuts on each side of the fish.
2.  Rub both sides with combined seasoning ingredients.
3.  Heat oil in a wok and deep-fry until fish is cooked and golden. Remove and place on a serving dish.
4.  Remove oil for deep-frying the fish, leaving 1 tbsp of the oil in the wok.
5.  Saute the chopped garlic and chilli. Add in the sauce ingredients.
6.  When the sauce comes to a boil, add in the cut spring onions and coriander leaves.
7.  Pour sauce over the deep-fried fish.

I am linking this post to Little Thumbs Up

The theme for February  2014 is Lemon, 

hosted by Grace of  Life Can Be Simple

This event is organised by Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids 
and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY

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Grilled Chicken With Lemon

Grilled Chicken With Lemon

Recipe source :  Adapted from "Everyday Chicken" by Parragon Publishing

You know, sometimes recipes are discovered and come in unexpected ways. 

Take this dish for example. We were celebrating Christmas and year end party in the office and during the gift exchange,  my colleague got herself a cookbook.

I, being curious and love cooking, thumbed through the pages of this cookbook once the gift was unwrapped and everybody else too flipped through the pages. This recipe caught my attention.

Ingredients

3 chicken whole thighs
Grated rind of 1 lemon
Juice from 1 lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 sprigs of fresh thyme, plus extras for garnishing
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

 

Method

1.  Prick the skin of chicken all over with a fork.
2.  Put chicken pieces into a dish, add lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, thyme, salt, pepper and lemon rind. Mix well. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for two hours.
3.  Preheat grill or broiler.
4.  Baste in marinade and grill for about 30 to 40 minutes. Basting and turning occasionally.
5.  Garnish with thyme.

I am linking this to Little Thumbs Up

The theme for February  2014 is Lemon, 

hosted by Grace of Life Can Be Simple

This event is organised by Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids 
and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY

I am also linking this to Cook-Your-Books #9  

 

Organised by Joyce of  Kitchen Flavours

Pears In Red Wine

Pears In Red Wine

Recipe source :  Ellice Handy Recipes ( Female Cookbook 1979 )


These pears in red wine are extremely delicious. My youngest son, YS and I like these pears very much. The cookbook recommended that we eat them with ice-cream. Ice-cream! This meant double bliss for both of us, to have chilled pears cooked in delicious red wine sauce topped-up  with ice-cream for dessert! This is definitely a treat , not an everyday treat!

We love the unique flavour of the stewed pears cooked with cloves, cinnamon and red wine. 

Yes, a very delicious treat for us!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups red wine
3 slices lemon
3 cloves
1/2 cup white sugar
5 cm piece cinnamon bark
6 firm pears

You will require :

 Lemon

Pears

Left :  cinnamon. Right : cloves

Red wine

Instructions

1.  Place wine, lemon slices, cloves, cinnamon and sugar into a saucepan.
2.  When boiling, add peeled pears and simmer for 10 minutes.
3.  Remove pears to a bowl and continue to boil the wine for 10 minutes to reduce the quantity.
4.  Pour hot wine over the pears and allow to stand until warm, turn fruits often.
5.  Serve with ice-cream
6.  Serves 4 to 6 people.

 The ice-cream melted pretty fast in our hot weather

A wine flavoured dessert. 
Unique!

I am submitting this post to Aspiring bakers #38 : Boozy-licious! (December 2013)

hosted by Jasline of Foodie baker 

I am linking this post to Cook-Your-Books  # 7

 

Hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours

Mini Lemon-syrup Sponges

Mini Lemon-syrup Sponges

Recipe source : Nigella Lawson


When I saw the mini lime-syrup sponges from Joyce,  I had it bookmarked immediately. They looked so cute and delicious. 

I have some lemons sitting in my refrigerator and I immediately thought about those lovely mini loaves which Joyce had baked using Nigella's "How To Be A Domestic Goddess". 

 I substituted lemons for limes. The amount yielded nine lovely pieces of mini sponges.

These mini lemon-syrup sponges were awesome! Super delicious!

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
zest of half a lemon
1 cup +  2 tbsp self-raising flour
a pinch of salt
4 tbsp milk

Syrup

4 tbsp lemon juice
zest for decoration
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

Instruction for making the lemon-syrup

1.  Place the lemon juice and confectioner's sugar into a small saucepan.
2.  Heat gently until the sugar dissolves. Set  aside.

Instruction for making the mini sponges

1.  Preheat oven to170 degree C.
2.  Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs and lemon zest, beating well.
3.  Add self-raising flour, salt then milk. Beat well.
4.  Spoon into muffin pan and bake for 25 minutes.
5.  As soon as the mini sponges are baked, take them out from the oven and prick with a bamboo skewer all over.
6.  Spoon syrup all over the mini sponges. Set aside to let the syrup be absorbed.
7.  Remove the mini sponges while slightly warm otherwise it is difficult to remove them when they are totally cooled.
8.  Decorate with lemon zest on top of the mini sponges.

Spoon lemon syrup over the mini sponges immediately upon removing from the oven

Mouth-watering !

Yummy! These are super delicious!

I am sharing this post to Cook-Your-Books #4




hosted by Joyce from Kitchen Flavours

Buttery Lemon Parsley Noodles (Ree Drummond)

Buttery Lemon Parsley Noodles (Ree Drummond)

Recipe source :  Ree Drummond

I used egg noodles to make this dish instead of pasta. It is very smooth and buttery with a tinge of sourish taste from the lemon. The chopped parsley complimented and enhanced the flavour of the noodles.

The flavour is very unique. Perhaps it is because I am more accustomed to Chinese and Asian cooking. I guess it is more suitable for people who like Western food.  

Nevertheless, it was a very pleasant change from my routine and broadens my exposure to different ways of cooking and different cultures as I blog along happily. 

Now,  I suddenly crave for a glass of wine to go with this!

Cheers!

Ingredients

120g egg noodles
2 tbsp butter
2 stalks parsley, chopped
1 tbsp lemon juice
zest from 1/4 of lemon
salt to taste
dash of pepper

 Parsley and lemon

Some home-made egg noodles

Preparation Instructions

1.  Blanch egg noodles in boiling water until al dente. Drain and set aside,
2.  Melt butter in a wok over medium heat. Throw in the blanched egg noodles and cook for a minute or two.
3.  Add lemon juice and lemon zest. Then add in the chopped parsley.
4.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
5.  Toss to mix everything together.
6.  Dish up and serve immediately.

I am linking this post to "Cook Like A Star" 

 

Hosted by Baby Sumo of Eat Your Heart Out, 

Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids and Mich from Piece of Cake 

Cherry Cheesecake (Nigella Lawson) 黑樱桃芝士蛋糕

Cherry Cheesecake (Nigella Lawson) 黑樱桃芝士蛋糕

Recipe source : Nigella Lawson

Nigella's cherry cheesecake tastes terrific! The only downside is, it is so rich and fattening.  The recipe calls for a 20cm spring form tin. I do not have a 20cm tin so I used a 23cm tin instead. That's why my cheesecake is much flatter.

Ingredients

125g crumbled digestive biscuits
75g soft butter
300g cream cheese
60g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract  ( I did not use this )
1/2 tsp lemon juice
250ml double cream
1 jar black cherry spread

Method

1.  Blitz the biscuits in a food processor until beginning to turn to crumbs, then add butter and whizz again.
2.  Press the mixture into a 20cm spring form tin. 
3.  Beat together the cream cheese, icing sugar, vanilla extract and lemon juice in a bowl until smooth.
4.  Slightly whip the double cream and then fold it into the cream cheese mixture.
5.  Spoon the cheese filling onto the biscuit base and smooth with a spatula.
6.  Put it in the fridge for at least 3 hours or overnight.
7.  When you are ready to serve the cheesecake, unmould it and spread the black cherry over the top.

This post is linked to Cook Like A Star 'Nigella Lawson' organised by Anuja from Simple Baking,  Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids and Joyce from Kitchen Flavours.

Rainbow Jelly Drink 彩虹燕菜冰

Rainbow Jelly Drink 彩虹燕菜冰

 

   

Making The Syrup

1 cup sugar
2 cups water
2 pandan (screw-pine) leaves 

Boil all the above ingredients together in a small pot until the sugar dissolves. Cool the syrup before using.

 

Ingredients For Making The Jelly

 

15g agar-agar strips
700ml water
120g sugar
a few drops each of red, yellow and green food colouring

 Instructions to make the jelly

1.  Boil the water with sugar and agar-agar strips until the agar-agar strips dissolve

2.  Use a sieve to strain the liquid mixture into 3 different rice bowls.

3.  Add a drop or two of red colouring into one of the bowls with liquid mixture. Stir until the red colouring is well blended. 

4.  Repeat the same process with the yellow and the green colourings. 

5.  Let the jellies cool and set. 

6.  Then place them in the refrigerator to chill. 
7.  Once chilled and set, cut the jellies into tiny cubes and set them aside.  

 A packet of agar-agar

 

 Agar-agar strips

 Cut the set jellies into tiny cubes

To Serve 

( for one serving )

1 tbsp red jelly cubes
1 tbsp yellow jelly cubes
1 tbsp green jelly cubes
500ml water
2 tbsp syrup
1/2  tsp lemon juice
ice cubes

1.  Add 500ml boiled water or mineral water to a glass.
2.  Add in all the above ingredients.
3.  Stir to mix thoroughly.
4.  Add ice cubes or chill in the refrigerator before serving.
5.  Enjoy! 

 

Lemon Barley Drink 柠檬薏米水

Lemon Barley Drink 柠檬薏米水

 Cooling and refreshing

 

 

 Nice combination of sweet and sour taste

Ingredients

 

100g barley pearls
2 lemons ( to extract the juice )
220 g sugar
1.75 litres water
Slices of lemon for garnishing
Crushed ice to serve

Instructions

1.  Wash barley pearls and place them in a medium-sized pot
2.  Add in the 1.75 litres of water to the barley and bring it to boil
3.  Simmer briskly for about 45 minutes
4.  Add sugar and mix well to dissolve
5.  Allow to cool and strain the barley water into a jug
6.  Squeeze lemon juice from 2 lemons and add the lemon juice into the jug of barley
7.  Serve with crushed ice and garnish with lemon slices

  

 Some people like to eat the soft barley pearls as well