Pasta in Vegetable Broth

I initially wanted to post it much later on but since a friend asked if I have any recipes for a fussy toddler (which I do have since Ashley’s one)so I'll post it today instead.

 

Honestly, I think children are the hardest to please food critics ever. Not only you need to prepare a healthy meal for them, you must ensure it’s appealing to them, and sometimes you thought you finally have something they love, the next day it would end up in the thrash bin instead in their tummy. Sigh

And even though I have friends saying that Ashley’s one lucky girl cos her mommy cooks well (thanks girls for the compliments), she doesn’t seem to appreciate the variety of food I tried to introduce in her menu. Everyday I have to crack my head thinking what to cook for her. And getting her to eat is sometimes even harder than giving birth. Oh yes she’s that fussy and difficult. But of course, this lil princess of mine does give her mommy a break once in a while and reward her mommy’s hard work by finishing her meal without any kitchen drama. She must have really liked this seeing that she had 3 helpings and about to take 4 if I didn’t stop her from overeating.Maybe it’s the cute pasta shapes. Hmm

 

So anyways here's the recipe

 

You need
1 rib of celery, diced
1 small carrot, diced
1 medium potato, diced
3 cloves of garlic, leave whole
some chicken skin*
olive oil
a cup of dried small shape pasta *
500ml of water
salt & pepper to taste

How to

1.  Heat up oil in a saucepan; add in the chicken fat and garlic. Leave it to cook for about 8-10minutes stirring occasionally so that the chicken skin doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.

2.  Add in the celery and sauté for 5 minutes or until it turns slightly soft. Next add in the carrot and potato, mix well and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes before adding in the water. Remember to stir occasionally so that the vegetables cooks evenly

3.  Once the broth starts to boil, remove the skin fat, skim the top for excessive oil/fat then add in the pasta and reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until the pasta is cooked.

4.  Salt and pepper to taste

 

Enjoy!

 

Note

*If you don’t like chicken fat, you can just substitute it with butter. Or you can just skip this, if prefer a healthier dish. Somehow I like the aroma of rendered fat in my soup

*If you can’t find any of those shaped pasta, you can use smaller pasta like macaroni or angel – hair pasta broken into smaller pieces before adding into the broth.

Variations

You may add in more variety of vegetables and maybe diced chicken. Also instead of serving with pasta, you can serve it with cooked rice.Just pour the broth in a bowl of rice, making it soupy

Cooking tutorials

 

Spicy Aglio Olio Fettuccine with Pan Fried Oregano Chicken

Made this for lunch and I must say after sipping a big cup of iced green tea does make me feel less guilty indulging such a sinful yet delicious dish :D  Why sinful? Because I'm supposed to cut down on my carbs, been gaining weight for the past few months plus my third anniversary is 2 weeks away.

The recipe is pretty straight forward and I cooked by taste, not so much on measuring the ingredients, so when you make this, just play by taste ya

You need:
For the Spicy Aglio Olio Fettuccine
About a handful of dried fettuccine, cooked till al dente,
5 cloves of garlic, sliced
3 tbsps of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
2 tbsps of dried chilli flakes or red pepper flakes, you may add more flakes if you like it even spicier
A splash of balsamic vinegar*
Salt to taste

For the Pan Fried Oregano Chicken
1 chicken thigh, boneless, skin on
1 tsp of ground oregano
salt & pepper to season
Olive oil to pan fry (about 2-3 tbsps would do)

How to:
1. Pat dry the chicken, and season with salt, pepper and ground oregano. Leave aside to marinate for at least 10 mins. (I marinated it since morning while preparing for Ashley's lunch)
2. Heat up olive oil in a frying pan/skillet and place the chicken, skin side on. Cook until the skin turns golden brown and flip the other side. Cook for another 5 minutes. Drain on a paper towel, while preparing the pasta.
3. Use a paper towel to wipe clean the pan and heat up the EVOO, stir in the garlic slices, give it a quick stir or if you want until it turns slightly golden brown.
4. Sprinkle half of the chilli flakes and stir for less than a minute before putting in the already cooked pasta. Add in the remaining chilli flakes, mix well. Season with salt
5. Serve with the Pan Fried Oregano Chicken.

Enjoy!

Note
* You don't have to add in balsamic vinegar if you don't have it in your pantry. I just thought of adding a splash for tartness or you can squeeze in half a lemon

Now for another cup or maybe a huge tumbler of iced green tea

Lemon Baked Fish with Mediterranean Couscous

 

Having a toddler around usually means I don’t have the luxury to prepare a nice meal on time for lunch or I have to munch on a piece of toast to curb my hunger while waiting for her to take her afternoon naps and then prepare the meal.

So today, I planned to do some work while she’s napping away and I don’t want to eat another packet of instant mee / maggi mee. So I made this fuss free and quick meal for lunch. The best part about this dish, is that I can leave the fish baking in the oven while doing my chores and by the time I’m done with the chores, it’s time for reward myself with a steaming hot lemon infused fish and couscous with a light Mediterranean touch. :)

And did I mention that Ashley loves it :D

 

You need
For the Lemon Baked Fish
250gm of dory fish fillet or you can use any type of white fish, cut into three portions
2 lemons sliced
4 tsps of lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
Aluminium foil for wrapping

For the Mediterranean Couscous

1 cup of instant couscous (I used organic instant couscous)

21/2 cups of vegetable broth (Or you can use water and add in some chicken granules)

1 medium onion diced

1 medium carrot diced

3 tbsps of ghee or butter

1 tsp of cumin powder

How to:

To make the fish

1. Thaw fish if frozen and drain off any liquid.
2. Place the fillets on the aluminum foil.
3. Squeeze the lemon juice on the fish, sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.
4. Place the fish fillets on the aluminum foil and arrange the lemon slices on the fillets.
5. Wrap the fillet with the aluminum foil and bake in 280 degree oven for 30 minutes.
6. It is done when you poke it with a fork and it flakes like fish is supposed to. If it is tough or rubbery then it isn't done yet. Put it back into the oven and cook it some more

To make the couscous
1. Heat butter, add in the diced onion, stir for 1 minute and add in the carrot along with the cumin powder.
2. Stir for 3 minutes or until the carrot turns slightly cooked.
3. Add couscous and stir to coat, add stock, bring to a boil, reduce heat to lowest setting, cover and cook (no peeking!) until liquid is absorbed.
4. Fluff to separate.
5. Serve with the Lemon Baked Fish

Enjoy!

Steamed Caramel Cake / Apam Gula Hangus

 

All packed along with mooncakes to give to family & friends during Mid-Autumn Festival

 

I've mentioned this a million times, I’m not very good in baking and I still love to bake. Must be my over demanding sweet tooth. And before this I didn’t have an oven so I had to settle for steamed ones. And being in Malaysia, I’m lucky because we have many types of cakes and most of the cakes are made by steaming.And I bought this cookbook from Periplus Mini Cookbooks Collections, I’m an avid fan of this collection, mainly because it’s affordable at only RM11.90 per book and it’s good because the recipes are pretty easy to understand and follow.

 

I made this for the first time for my lil girl’s 1^st birthday tea party and have since become my must-haves desserts each time I throw a party or for gatherings. And since a couple of my friends has requested for the recipe, this post is dedicated for them :)

You need
150 g sugar
100 ml hot water
70 g butter
75 ml evaporated milk
1 egg, beaten

150 g self raising flour

pinch of salt

Yields 7 small cakes

How to

1. Place the 150g of sugar in a small heavy-based saucepan and heat gently until sugar melts and caramelizes to golden brown colour. Take care to keep pan on very low heat to avoid burning the caramel and remove pan from heat once it reaches a golden brown colour.
2. Pour the hot water into the caramel. And please be extra cautious at this point because the moment you pour the hot water, the caramel and hot water would splutter. So don’t be alarmed if that happens. Boil caramel for a few minutes until completely melted and syrup is obtained. Allow syrup to cool and pour it out into a measuring cup (you need 160 to 170 ml)
3. Add the melted butter, milk and beaten egg to the cooled caramel syrup and stir well to combined.
4. Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle and pour in the liquid. Gradually incorporate the dry ingredients into the liquid, stirring gently with a wooden spoon or balloon whisk for a smooth batter.
5. Fill small lightly buttered cups three-quarters full of batter and steam for 15 to 20 minutes.

 

Taste : 5/5 I love it because it’s very fragrant and it’s not too sweet

Preparation : 4/5 the recipe’s pretty easy to follow,

Ingredients : 5/5 available at hypermarkets, supermarkets & baking supplies stores Availability

Cooking time : 4.5/5 aside from waiting for the caramel syrup to cool down, it won’t take much of your time.

 

 

Variation

You may also bake the cakes, just pour the mixture into a greased and lined baking pan and bake in a preheated oven at 170Celcius for about 25-30 minutes. The surface might crack a bit but that’s okay.

Note
If you wish to make this for parties, you may double the recipe or in my case I tripled the amount.

Cooking tutorial
Ingredients

 

How To

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Mid Autumn Festival

Wishing all my blog readers a Happy Mid Autumn Festival. Have fun playing lanterns and eating mooncakes :)

From left

Apam Gula Hangus/Steamed Caramel Cake, Dragon Fruit with Peach Jelly Mooncake, Gula Melaka with Lotus Paste Jelly Mooncake