Stuffed Mini Sweet Peppers

I just love these cute mini sweet peppers. They were so colorful and I just can’t resist buying it. Carlos has been putting them in his salad but I am not a fan of eating them raw as I can’t digest it too well. I will be repeating it the whole day. So I decided to stuff them with some ground beef and baked them with some marinara sauce.

You can serve this as an appetizer, a side dish or like us we have it with some toasted bread for our dinner. They were so good as the pepper turns out so sweet after roasting in the oven and the meat on inside stays moist. In fact Carlos asked me to make more the next time so he can have the leftovers the next day…. Enjoy!

Cheddar and Parsley Biscuits

There is one chain of restaurant here called Red Lobster. The food there is just ok but I do love their Cheddar biscuits. They will serve a few of it on the table in place of bread basket. These are no ordinary biscuits. They are loaded with cheddar cheese and garlic and with some herbs in it too. I can polish them up in no time. I tried goggling for the recipes and most of the recipes use packaged baking mix which I wanted to avoid. So I end up creating a simple recipe which turns out pretty good. They were light, fluffy and full of cheese flavor. With the leftovers, I just reheating them up and make sandwiches out of it.

Roasted Maple and Bacon Butternut Squash

One of my favorite things for autumn and winter is the abundance of squash in the market. Two of my favorite kinds are the kabocha and butternut. They are naturally sweet, low in calories and full of vitamin A and C. I usually like to roast them up and serve it as side dishes. I prepared this particular side dish to take it to a Thanksgiving get together at a friend house. It was so well received by everyone even by the non squash fan and I thought I should put the recipe here as I will be making it again soon. I simply tossed it with olive oil, salted and pepper and when it is nearly done roasting I add some maple syrup, cinnamon and cayenne pepper to it. It gives this dish a sweet, salty and slightly spicy flavor.

 

 

Daging Goreng Pengantin – Kelantan Dish 7

When I went through the ingredients of this dish, it is simple enough for me to do it. I have no clue how this dish look like as there is no picture of it from Betty Saw’s cookbook but I am brave enough to try it out. I am a person who normally likes to try out a recipe base on the picture of the dish. The method of cooking is very much like serunding as you have to boiled the meat first and then stir fry it for a few hours until it gets really dry. Since I like serunding I like this dish as well except I wish it is much spicier. If I am cooking this again I will add more chili to it. This dish goes well with rice, bread or just serves as appetizer. Betty Saw said this dish can be stored for a couple of weeks but I would advise to put them the fridge.

Baby Heirloom Tomato Salad

Carlos and I eat a lot of tomatoes. Between 2 of us we can eat 2-3 pounds a week. Our most favorite tomatoes are the plum and heirloom. We like heirloom variety as it has intense flavors. We were shopping at Trader Joe’s the other day and we came across these baby heirloom tomatoes. Aren’t they beautiful!!! They are just so colorful and so appealing. I can’t resist and bought a few punnet of it. With tomatoes like these, you don’t need to dress them up much as they are flavorful, juicy and sweet as it is. With just some olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and you are good to go. If you like you can add a bit of chopped parsley or basil to it. This salad is great to accompany any meat dishes.

Fruity Roasted Beet Salad

I know some of you are not a fan of beet but I just love it. I can have it in my juice or salad anytime. I will have it fresh in my juice and for the salad I will usually roast it up. Roasted beets are delightful, sweet but very earthy and aromatic. I planted some beets this year but it didn’t grow very well. I think the soil is too hard so next season I need to buy some extra soil to top it up. Anyway, I took them all out last week as I won’t have the time to water them as often as we will be travelling again soon. I just roast them with some olive oil, salt and pepper and eat it with some salad. This beet salad is full of bright colors, refreshing and sweet earthy flavors.

Oven Roasted Potato with Garlic Herbs

This is one side dish that I like to prepare for our dinner and it is Carlos favorite too. I will normally prepare a bit more so I can have some leftover for another day. Potato is such a versatile root vegetables; you can boil it, fry it, mash it, stew it and roast it. One of my favorite types of potatoes is the red skin potato. I like roasting it and when it is done simply toss it in garlic and fresh herbs which I planted a lot at my backyard this year.

Ingredients:

1 pound skin potatoes – cut into quartered
3 cloves garlic – chopped
½ cup chopped fresh herbs (spring onions, cilantro and parsley)
1 tsp red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
Some olive oil

Blanched Bean Sprouts

Bean sprouts or in Malay and Hokkien we called it Taugeh are cheap but it is high in nutrients particular vitamins B complex and C, asparagines, folic acid and iron. I like using them in my fried noodles and beside that I like to blanch them lightly to retain the bean sprouts crunchiness. I usually served this with Hainanese Chicken Rice .

Ingredients:

1 pound fresh bean sprouts – removed tails
2 spring onions – cut small
Some fried garlic
dash of pepper

Edamame Orzo Salad with Grilled Shrimps

After indulging in all the rich food from our short vacation recently, it is time to have something fresh, healthy, light spring foods. I made this salad using the leftover orzo from my previous Cheesy Orzo Frittata. Orzo is pasta that is similar to rice in shape, but a little thicker and larger. I like making pasta salads and soup with it. This salad is simple and fresh. I loved the crunchy edamame and tender sweet grape tomatoes. I added some fresh parsley from my garden to it too.

Ingredients:

1 cup orzo
1 cup frozen shelled edamame
1/2 pound medium size shrimps – shelled and deveined
1 pint of grape or cherry tomatoes - halved
1 small bunch fresh parsley - chopped

Onions and Pine Nuts Focaccia

I always like focaccia. I’ve learned to bake this bread when I took up Italian baking lesson at New York Culinary School with the famous pastry chef and cook books writer Nick Malgieri. It is rustic and very easy bread to make which requires no kneading to the dough. The most common topping to this bread are olives, anchovies and rosemary but you can actually put any type of topping to it. I will usually put fresh basil and tomatoes but today I used onions, pine nuts and parmesan cheese. We had this freshly baked bread with some salad for our dinner.

Dough Ingredients:

4 cups of flour
1 tsp salt
1 envelope/ 7 grm active dry yeast
1 2/3 cups warm water (110 degree F)
3 tbsp of olive oil

Garlic Roasted Potatoes

When come to cooking potatoes I like to keep it simple. For me simple is often the best. To get it crispy on the outside and tender on the inside I will usually par-boiled the potatoes first. Then cut them into wedges and roast them over high heat. Normally I will toast in all the herbs before roasting but this time I did something different. I lightly brown the garlic, chili and green onions and toss it into the potatoes once it is done.

Ingredients:

4 large potatoes (I used red skin potatoes)
3 spring onions
3 cloves garlic – chopped
1 large red chili – finely sliced
Salt and pepper to taste

Parsley and Garlic Knots

These piping hot knots are pizzeria classic and are unbelievingly addictive. They are called "knots" due to their shape resembling that of a square knot and about the size of a golf ball. They are chewy, garlicky and loaded with fresh parsley. I actually forgot to sprinkle some parmesan cheese to it but even without them they are still good. If you're tired and busy and just don't have time to make your own dough you can always buy some dough from your favorite pizza joint or even buy the frozen dough from the grocery store. You can either brush the garlic coating on before baking or like me I just tossed it in after I baked the bread. Either way they will be good.

For the dough:
Recipe adpated from King Arthur Flour with some changes.

3 cups bread flour
1 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. dried yeast
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp. olive oil
¼ cup milk
1 cup lukewarm water (you might need 1-2 tbsp more)

Pomegranate Wild And Brown Rice Salad

We are slowly switching from white rice to brown rice. Carlos is actually not a huge fan of brown rice so for now I will mix the white and brown rice and he is slowly getting use to it. Beside brown rice I like wild rice too. I love the hearty and nutty flavor of the wild rice. For this particular salad I used Goose Valley Brown and Wild Rice Fusion. It is a combination for Brown rice, wild rice, heirloom red rice and sweet brown rice. If you like to make this salad you can use any type rice combination to suit your taste.

Tuna Patties

I am not a fan of canned food but I have to say that canned tuna do save the day when you want make something quick. This is one tasty way of eating can tuna. Tuna fish is an excellent source of protein and lower in fat than red meat. I like making this type of patties especially during the weekends where I am not up to cooking anything elaborate. Even Carlos loves these tasty patties. I normally served this with some salad but you can even serve this like a burger.

Ingredients:

1 can of tuna (about 7 oz)
1 Idaho potato – boiled and mashed
A handful of cilantro – finely chopped (you can use spring onions)
1 small shallot – finely chopped
1 small egg
1 tsp of mustard
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Open the can tuna and drain all the water out. Put the tuna in a bowl and add in all the rest of the ingredients.
2. Mix everything together until well combined. Make into patties. The size depends on how big you want the patties to be.
3. Heat up a skillet with some olive oil. Pan fried the patties until golden brown on both side.
4. Serve warm or at room temperature with some tartar sauce or chili sauce.

Note: There are times I will replaced the mashed potato with ¾ cup of breadcrumbs and the patties tasted just as good.

Savory Scones

This is a very simple savory scones recipe. They are wonderful served hot, spread with a little butter and eaten alongside of a steam bowl of hot soup.

Ingredients :
2 cups of flour
2 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of salt
3 tbsp of butter
1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
2 slices of ham - roughly chopped (optional)
1/4 cup of oil packed sundries tomatoes - finely chopped
1 egg - beaten
3/4 cup of half and half or milk (more or less) + 2 tbsp of glazing
2 tbsp of sesame seeds

1) Heat oven to 375 degree F. Lightly greased a baking sheet.
2) In a mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
3) Rub in butter lightly into the flour with finger tips until mixtures resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
4) Stir in cheese, ham and sundries tomatoes. Make a well in the centre of the flour and add in egg and then the milk slowly. Just enough for the mixture to come together.
5) Gently mix until just combined. Turn the mixture out on a lightly flour counter top and knead lightly and briefly. Be careful not to overwork the dough.
6) Press the dough to form 1" thickness. Cut the dough with a round cookie cutter.
7) Place in the baking sheet and brush the top with some milk and sprinkle with some sesame seeds.
8) Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until lightly brown. Serve warm.

Note : It is important not to over handle these scones, as they will be heavy and tough. You can add some freshly chopped parsley or spring onions to the scones too.