Mango Sago Dessert

This is such a refreshing dessert to have on a hot and humid days like what we are having here in PA. Temperature here can go up to over 90 degree F and having this for dessert is just pure heaven. It’s not too sweet, thick and with huge chunky fresh mango in it.

Ingredients:

2 sweet mango
4 tbsp of sago pearls (soak in cold water for half an hour)
125ml evaporated milk
200 ml mango juice
50 ml water
2-3 tbsp sugar (more if you like it sweeter)

1. Bring about 4 cups of water to boil in a saucepan. Add in sago pearls and bring it up to boil. Once it boils, continue to stir for a minutes and then turn off the heat and cover the saucepan. Leave it for 20 minutes. At this stage the sago pearls should be transparent.
2. Drain the sago from the hot water in a strainer, rinse under cold running water until it cools down and water runs clear and set aside.
3. Peel and cut mango into cubes. Set aside some of the cut mango for garnish.
4. Blended the rest of the mango, sugar with the 50 ml of water until smooth.
5. In a mixing bowl, mix the blended mango, cubed mango, mango juice and milk. Stir well. Add in the sago pearls and stir until well combined.
6. Chill before serving.


Note: If mixture is too thick you can always add extra milk or mango juice to it.

Cheesy Pine Nut Rosemary Cookies

Have you try making savory cookies? Now here is something different for you. They are actually great for appetizers or snacks. Maybe a little bit better than all the other sugary treats in our cookies jars :). This cookies are nutty, buttery, cheesy and with a little hint of rosemary. You can replace the rosemary with other herbs like chives or thyme and you can add other spices like cumin, garlic, paprika, chili power to these cookies. The options are endless!

Ingredients:

1 stick/113 grm/1/2 cup butter
1 ½ cup of flour
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup ground pine nuts
1 egg – separate yolk and white
2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup of pine nuts – for decoration

1. Cream butter and salt and light and creamy. Add in the egg yolk cream until well combined.
2. Add in parmesan cheese, ground pine nuts and chopped rosemary. Mix well. Add in the flour and continue to mix until the mixture comes together into a ball.
3. Take out the dough and lightly floured work surface, give the dough a few knead and let it rest for half an hour.
4. Roll the dough out thinly about 1/8" thick. Cut out into desired shapes. Brush the top of the cookies with some egg white and sprinkle some pine nuts on it.
5. Baked in a pre-heated 325 degree F oven until lightly brown. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Steamed Eggplant with Meat Sauce

I think by now you should know that I love eggplant as I had quite a few eggplant dishes here. If I see some nice firm eggplant at the Asian store I will definitely buy it. As for Carlos he is not a fan of it. There is no way I can make him eat it no matter how I cook it.

This is a relatively simple dish to cook. Normally I will just stir-fry the eggplant together with the minced meat but this time I did something different. I first steamed the eggplants and then cook the meat sauce and pour over it. As usual I added some chilies to the sauce to give it a bit of spicy kick to the dish and it goes really well with rice.

Ingredients:

2 Japanese/Asian eggplants
1 piece chicken breast/or any type of protein – minced
2 cloves of garlic - finely chopped
2 shallots - sliced thinly
2 small red chilies – sliced thinly
1 tbsp of fermented bean paste (tau cheong)
1 tbsp of sugar
1 tsp of dark soy sauce
2 tbsp of soy sauce
½ cup of water + 1/2 tsp of cornstarch
2 spring onion – diced small

1. Clean and cut the eggplant into 1” length. Season with some olive oil and salt and steam on high heat until soft.
2. While the eggplant is steaming, cook the sauce. Heat up a tablespoon olive oil in a frying pan, stir fry garlic and shallots until fragrant and lightly brown.
3. Add in the fermented bean paste, stir-fry for a few second and add in the meat and chilies. Continue to stir-fry until the meat changes color.
4. Add in all the seasoning and the water. Bring it up to boil and cook until sauce reduce and thicken. Check seasoning.
5. Pour sauce over the steamed eggplant and sprinkle the top with some spring onion. Serve warm.

Mini Cottage Pies

Aren’t these the cutest little pies you’ve ever seen? Believe me; they tasted even better than they look! These savory little pies make great hors d’oeuvres for party or any gatherings and I am sure it will impress your guests. These mini pies are really simple to make and you can prepare them ahead of time before the party. Feel free to make a one large pie if you want to. Either way you will not be disappointed.

Ingredients:
(adapted from Women's Weekly Cookbooks)


Shortcrust pastry – refer to the recipe here (you can use the store bought pastry)

250 grm ground beef
1 medium onion – chopped finely
2 cloves garlic – chopped
2 tomatoes – cut into small cubes
½ cup of beef stock or water
¼ cup frozen peas
1 tbsp of chopped fresh thyme
2 tbsp of chopped parsley
2 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste


2 large potatoes or 3 medium size potatoes (500 grm)
¼ cup milk
1 tbsp butter
1 egg yolk
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Lightly greased some muffin pans or tartlets pans. Roll out the dough to about 1/8” thickness. Using a round cutter cut out rounds and places the dough to the pans. Prick the tart shells all over with a fork and blind bake until golden brown. Remove and let it cool.
2. Heat about 1 tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan. Cook onions and garlic until soften and lightly brown. Add in beef, cook, stirring until beef changes color. Add in tomato, water, Worcestershire sauce and thyme. Bring it up to boil. Reduce heat, simmer until liquid has evaporated. Stir in peas and chopped parsley. Check seasoning and remove from heat.
3. Boil potato until soft. Remove and drain. Mash potato in a large bowl. Stir in butter, milk, and egg yolk, salt and pepper until well combined.
4. Spoon potato mixture into piping bag fitted with a large star tips.
5. Put the pastry casing on a baking sheet, fill about 1 tsp of beef mixture, and pipe potato over the beef. Set your oven to boil and broil the tarts until the tops slightly brown.
6. Serve warm or at room temperature.