Oven baked curry puffs

I had 2 boxes of frozen puff pastry that had been lying there for the longest time.....so I decided to make some curry puffs with them.

I made the puff fillings like I normally do - the cheat's way. I boiled the potatoes and chopped them into bitesize pieces. I also chopped up some leftover rotisserie chicken breast into chunks. I fried some chopped onions till soft, added some packet curry paste (I used Brahim's meat curry) and a little bit of chicken stock...followed by the chicken and potatoes...and kept stirring till thoroughly mixed and heated. Set aside.

I left the frozen puff pastry out to thaw as per the instructions on the box. When ready, I unrolled the puff pastry and cut them into squares (the size of the square is all up to you).

I spread the puff filling on one side and topped with a slice of egg. Then I folded the puff pastry to make a triangular shape and sealed the sides by pressing the pastry with the tips of a fork.

I brushed the surfaces of the puffs with beaten egg and gently placed the puffs onto a baking rack that's on top of a cookie sheet (that's to allow the puffs to bake nicely on both sides).

I popped the puffs into the preheated oven of 370F for about 1/2 hr or till nicely browned.

Potato chips cookies

Did you know that 14 Mar was National Potato Chip Day? Well......neither did I!

Anyway, someone posted the link for making Potato Chips cookies on FB and I was like....hmm! this looks really gooood. You see, I generally prefer savory snacks than sweet ones.

So this morning, to keep myself awake (long story, I won't go into it here), I followed the recipe (with few changes) and made these crunch savory cookies.

Instead of rolled oats, I used whatever leftover instant maple/brown sugar flavored oatmeal that I was probably gonna toss out eventually 'cos it tasted awful!

And a surprise (NOT!) ingredient for the POTATO CHIPS cookies - POTATO CHIPS!!.....what do you know right! :P  Ok, my crap aside.....I used Kettle Lightly Salted chips. I also toned down the salt amount to maybe 3/4 of a teaspoon.

I pounded at the chips bag with my fists until they crumbled into smaller bits. Good workout for a sleepy me! I had some difficulties incorporating the chips into the dough with a spoon.....so in the end, I used my hands (they were clean ok!) and kinda squished the chips and dough together.

I also just scooped the dough with a tablespoon onto my palm and again - squished them into tighter rounds.

I made about 36 cookies. Whatever the number....I prefer it to be an even one. I'm weird like that.

They look almost like regular cookies but look closer and you'll see the potato chips. The chips give a really nice savory crunch.....if you are the sort who can't eat just one chip....then you might have a problem with these cookies too. So crunch-munch away!

Meatloaf wrap

Truth be told that I don't really like meatloaf when eaten on its own......but I absolutely love using leftover meatloaf to make all sorts of other dishes.

This meatloaf wrap is one of my favorites.

Here's an easy tutorial on how to put it all together.

Step 1: Heat up a piece of tortilla (cold is fine too. I used a low-fat spinach herb tortilla). Spread fat free mayo on it....alright, i'm a little sloppy  at mayo spreading but who cares right!

Step 2: I like to start layering with lettuce and other vegetables right in the middle of the tortilla. You can add all sorts of veg & fruits i.e. carrots, tomatoes, zucchini, avocado, grapes, apples, kiwi etc.

Step 3: After piling on the vegs, I added in slices of meatloaf, cheese and dollops of my special meatloaf sauce.

Step 4: I actually piled on more veg before rolling the tortilla up tightly.  Tuck in both ends neatly.

Step 5: To ensure that the ends are secure and to make eating easier and less messy....I like to foil wrap both ends.

Step 6: Cut the wrap in the middle at a slant....you can serve it with soup, salad, chips or other sides. It packs well in lunchboxes too.

ENJOY!!!

Liquid lentils...

I bought this Bob's Red Mill Vegi Soup Mix at Ocean State Job Lot as part of my new healthy diet.  

The mix is full of green and yellow split peas, barley and lentils.

There's a soup recipe printed on the side of the packaging that you can follow easily. And it's really pretty versatile so you should be able to come up with your own variations by altering the herbs, spices and ingredients.

The basic method is to just simmer 1 part mix with 4 parts water for one hour until the ingredients are soft. Add salt, seasonings & other vegetables as desired.

For the below photos, I cooked 1 cup of soup mix in 3-4 cups of home-made chicken soup stock (low sodium) for 1/2hr. And then I added to the simmering soup, some chopped carrots, celery and onion...and continue to simmer for another 1/2hr. I left the soup to cool slightly before blending it. You can blend till very smooth or if you like your soups chunkier...you can either just blend only half the portion or just pulse lightly so that you still have some chunks.  

As I usually make the soup in large quantities, I'd divide them into meal size portions and freeze or just chill them in the refrigerator.  Trust me, it tastes much better than it looks :)

When I'm ready to eat my soup, I'd pour the chilled soup out from the container and into a saucepan. I'd add some non-fat milk to it and let it simmer until it's sufficiently warm. While it's simmering, I'd taste the soup and add salt/pepper and other seasonings to it. I usually like to add some garam masala and paprika to the soup for some heat. 

Well, here's my liquid lentil lunch. Oops, I accidentally plopped too much chilli powder into my soup....oh well, it still was good *slurp*

Roasted vegetables - healthy and taste sooooo gooooooood

Why has no one ever told me about the deliciousness of roasted vegetables??!!

I only found this out very recently.....and boy, oh boy, the number of times I've made it since - making this one of the GREAT discoveries of Year 2012.

Roasting brings out the natural sweetness of the vegetables with a slight hint of toastiness.

This is usually how I'd make roasted vegetables....and it's almost foolproof:

Chop up root vegetables into chunky bitesize (for example - potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, onions, turnips etc.)

Chop up "soft" vegetables into chunky bitesize (for exaple, bell peppers, tomatoes, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini etc.)

Set them aside in 2 separate mixing bowls.

To both bowls, add a couple tablespoon (more/less depending on quantity of veg) of olive oil to nicely coat the vegetables.

To both bowls, add a dash of garlic powder, onion powder, Herbs de provence, salt/pepper (if you like it hot, some paprika/curry/chilli powder could be nice too).

To both bowls, add a tiny splash of balsamic vinegar.

Toss the veg till well mixed.

Preheat your oven to 475F.

Line a baking sheet with foil and spread your ROOT VEGETABLES on the sheet and put it into the oven for about 30mins (give the root veg a good stir in between roasting)

Add in the "soft" vegetables together with the root vegs, give them a good stir and roast at the same temperature for another 15mins.  

Remove from oven and start digging into the sweet toasty goodness.

Usually, I like to have a good balance of sweet and not sweet vegetables. For example, carrots, red bell peppers, sweet potatoes, squash, corn are sweet whereas asparagus, green bells, potatoes, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower aren't sweet. But you can do it whatever way you please.

And depending on how "heavy" you'd like the roasted veg dish to be - as a main meal or small side dish...you can vary the amount of the "heavier" rooted veg like potatoes/squash in the dish. The more potatoes/sweet potatoes/squash there is, the more substantial the dish.

I'd eat the roasted veg on its own or serve as a side dish. Leftover roasted veg can be used in soups (blended or not) and sandwich wraps too.

They are so yummy, good for you, easy to make (even in large quantities) and super versatile as a leftover. I can't sing enough praises of it.

Poori (Puri) making

I was inspired by my nephew to try to make some pooris after seeing his on FB. So I googled youtube and found this fabulous video instruction. I followed her recipe and instructions to a T and the pooris turned out nicely puffed and yummy.

Here are some photos of my own poori making attempt....

...and here are the photos of the final product!

Rum (no actually, Whiskey!) balls - recipes & pictorial

I finally got down to making my rumballs. Actually I used whiskey instead of rum....so technically, they are whiskey balls :P I promised some friends the recipe so here it is (it's more approximate than exact measurements):

Makes about 80-100 small whiskey balls -

9x13" chocolate cake (I used Duncan Hines Devil's cake 'cos it was on sale)

2 cups of ground almond

1 cup of heavy whipping cream

5 tablespoons of whiskey (I used Dewar's)

Chocolate rice for coating

Unsweetened shredded coconut for coating (I used Bob's Red Mill)

Make the cake by following the instructions on the cakemix box. Let it cool to room temperature and then crumble it up with your fingers. I actually made mine in 2 batches (1/2 cake and ingredients at a time) 'cos I don't have such a big mixing bowl.

As I couldn't find ground almonds....I bought the slivered one and put them in the blender on grind/pulse functions to grind them to a powdery form.

It's simple to put the whiskey cake dough together - all you need to do is to add the cake crumbs, ground almond, heavy whipping cream & whiskey together and mix them well such that they all come together. Test the mixture for the right texture. I'd suggest to add the liquids in parts so that you don't end up with too wet a dough (just in case!). However, if the dough is too dry, add more liquids but go easy on the whiskey :P You can chill the dough in the refrigerator for about 20min or so if you wish to, so that the dough is less sticky (hence your work less messy later on).

While the dough is chilling, prepare the coatings for the whiskey balls. I used chocolate rice and shredded coconut...but feel free to use other things like powdered sugar, cocoa powder, nuts or crushed candies etc. I toasted the shredded coconut in a pan over the stove (medium heat). Keep stirring the coconut and watch it closely 'cos the shreds do get burned easily. When the coconut shreds start to turn golden and smell delicious...it's time to turn off the heat. I spread the chocolate rice and shredded coconut onto two separate cookie sheets.

Remove the whiskey ball dough from the refrigerator. I used a mini ice-cream scoop which made my job a whole lot easier. Scoop the dough and drop it on your palm. Use your two palms to roll the whiskey ball into a nice round shape. Then drop the whiskey ball into either of your coating ingredients and roll the ball to coat it nicely and set aside.

Here's how my whiskey balls look after being coated.

I wrapped the whiskey balls individually in red and gold foil. You can also just pop them into miniature cupcake liners. I bought some Christmas-theme tins from Michaels and filled them up with the little whiskey balls. I also added a note that lists the ingredients in case of food allergies.

Well...that's all for the whiskey ball making instructions. The little tins are all out to be delivered to RG's colleagues, neighbors and our helpful sanitation and postal workers today.

If an apple a day keeps the doctor away....how about 5??! (Apple pie recipe and pictorial)

I've been down with flu yet again :( The flu meds make me drowsy and to keep myself awake and productive...I decided to bake an apple pie (seeing that I have 5 golden delicious apples tucked away in one corner of the refrigerator, forgotten and almost frozen solid!)

And since I'm baking...I may as well go all out to do a pictorial for my dear readers out there (hello??? *echo*).

So the key ingredients are: 5 golden delicious apples (or most would use granny smith) peeled/cored and cut into thin slices, a dash of ground nutmeg, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tbsp of vanilla extract, 1 tbsp corn starch, 1/2 cup white sugar, 2 tbsp flour, 1/2 cup light brown sugar, 1 cup unsalted butter, 2 tbsp of water and 2x9" pie crusts (I used ready made ones but you can go ahead and make your own if you are more ambitious).

So I usually start by placing the bottom pie crust in the pie dish and then arranging the apple slices as nicely as I can. Next, I melted the butter in a saucepan over the stove and stirred in the flour and corn starch to mix. Then I added in water, white and brown sugar and continue to stir till the mixture became a caramel consistency. Do allow the mixture to come to a slight boil and then reduce to simmer briefly.

I used a big spoon to slowly drizzle the caramel evenly over the apple slices until they were nicely coated. I left a couple tablespoons of caramel behind to be used as a glaze for the pie crust. I put the saucepan back onto the stove with the warmer function on so that the caramel doesn't get hardened. Using a pizza cutter, I cut the other pie crust into strips and made a lattice top for the pie. Then I used a pastry brush to glaze the lattice top with the remaining caramel.

Finally the pie went into the preheated oven (350F) for about an hour. I placed the pie in the middle rack and just below it, I placed a cookie sheet lined with aluminium foil to catch the sticky drips. At this point, your job is all done.....now sit back and smell the awesome fragrance of the pie baking in the oven! An hour later, you are ready to dig in with your fork!

Healthy oven baked crispy chicken chops

Several people have asked for the oven baked chicken chop recipe.....so here it is! :)

Ingredients:
4 pieces of deboned/skinned chicken thigh (+seasonings)
1/2 cup mayo + 1/2 cup milk (I use no-fat type for both)
1 cup dried bread crumbs (I use panko)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp paprika

Method:
First I seasoned the deboned/skinned chicken thighs with some garlic salt, onion powder and curry powder and leave them in the refrigerator to marinate for a couple of hours.

Then I whisk the mayo and milk together in a bowl.

Next I mix the bread crumbs, garlic powder, salt, black pepper & paprika together in a shallow plate.

Now that all the preparation works have been done, I'd preheat the oven to 350F.

I use one of those disposable broiling foil pans that are not flat at the base. The uneven grooves help cook the chicken better and not cause it to be soggy at the bottom. Best if you've an oven safe cooling rack which you can place over a cookie sheet. That'll allow the chicken to cook nicely and crispy-ly on top and at the bottom.

I'd spray a tiny bit of oil on the pan and coat the whole pan with a brush.

Take a piece of the chicken thighs and dip it in the mayo+milk mixture (shake off the excess). If you find the mayo+milk mixture a little too thick....add a little more milk to dilute it. We want it to help adhere the crumbs...not have the chicken drowned in the mayo-milk mixture :)

Then, coat the chicken thighs with the panko+seasoning mixture and place it on the foil pan. Repeat with the rest of the thighs.

Finally, just pop the pan into the oven for about 60min. Just make sure to check nearer the 1hr mark to see that the panko crumbs aren't burnt.

Feel free to play around with the seasonings for both the chicken seasonings as well as crumb seasonings. You can add whatever you like to your taste. If you prefer more spicy...can add some chilli powder, cayenne pepper, cumin etc. If you prefer more herby, can consider adding thyme, rosemary, parsley etc.

As for the chicken...you can use any parts apart from the thighs - like wings, drumsticks, breasts etc.

Serve the crispy chicken chops with chips, slaw, mashed potatoes, butter rice or even on toasted buns with lettuce (like a Chicken MacCrispy!).

Have fun making it and I hope you'll enjoy the taste of it.

When Calzone meets Curry Puff

Since we'll be leaving the rental soon....I have to start ridding the fridge of stuffs. I had a tube of frozen biscuit, cheese, frozen meatballs and pasta/curry sauces. And I thought - calzone/curry puff??!

So I microwaved the frozen meatballs and mashed them up real good.....

I chopped up some sweet onion, mushrooms & a large potato (cooked using microwave on POTATO function).

First, add very little oil to a heated pan and fry the onions till translucent. Then, add the mashed meatballs, mushrooms & potatoes and some curry and pasta sauces. I did not add any other seasonings 'cos the sauces already have salt/seasonings in them. Add enough sauces to bring all the ingredients together but not too much such that the ingredients are swimming in the sauces.

Flatten the biscuits into a bigger rounds. You can just use your palm or a rolling pin. Then, add some cheese and some filling in the middle and fold the rolled out pastry in half and press to seal the edges. Place them apart on a baking sheet.

Pop the baking sheet into the preheated oven to bake for 13-15min (or until the biscuits are golden brown) at 375F. I probably didn't seal the pastry properly...so the baked biscuits all ended up with opened "mouths" :P But no harm done....they might look ugly but still taste as good as closed puffs.

Come on now....I know you wanna take a bite!

Grilled vodka prawns

We had a cook out on Memorial Day and I made sweet spicy pork chops with grilled vodka prawns. I didn't make sides 'cos we are both sort of on a diet :P

Recipe (for 2):
16 large shrimps shelled & deveined(I used frozen ones)
1 clove garlic (smashed and finely minced)
1/2 tbsp lemon juice (I only had bottled type, you can use fresh squeezed lemon/lime juice)
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp citrus vodka
1/2 tbsp "sweet & sour" mixer (or you can just use lemon/lime/orange juice or magarita mixer)
1/2 tbsp parsley flakes (fresh ones are even better)
1/4 tsp paprika
Dash of salt/pepper (to taste)
5-6 bamboo skewers (soak in water for a couple of hours)

Method:
Marinate prawns for an hour
Thread them on skewers
Grill until they turn nice pinkish red and curled up (I put a sheet of aluminium foil over the flame and lightly sprayed with oil before placing the skewered prawns on the foil)

The prawns don't take long to cook. If your flame is very big....you can put the skewers on the side not too near the flames. The bamboo skewers might burn a little....be careful!

Me resting my feet while waiting for the food to cook.

RG had set the table.......

Here's a photo of us all decked in our red, blue and white t-shirts from good'O Navy!

Ice-cream for dessert.......oops, there goes the diet plan! :P