yam rice

why?

Just last week, I was hit with this unexplainable push of wanting to be more intentional in juggling work and home responsibilities has somehow inspired me to want to start preparing cheap, quick and of course delicious meals at home. I don't know, perhaps this could be a sign of my biological clock ticking? Somehow I always liken mothers to being SUPERwomen. How they need to juggle work, family and kitchen still boggles me. Can I ever be a SUPERwomen? Everyday when I get home from work, I simply can't see myself doing any housework or cooking after a long tiring day even though I really enjoy being in the kitchen! So perhaps this concern has prompted me to start with small? I don't have kids right now... so maybe I need to start with managing work and kitchen and somehow slowly I can see myself progressing to managing children as well. Sounds so tough! No wonder in Singapore, it's so easy for families to succumb to employing help. Wow... What a rant! Haha... ok, so back to yam rice. Totally fits the criteria of cheap, quick and delicious!

success?

This took about half an hour to prepare and cook, although I had to soak some of the ingredients in the morning before I left the house. So quick it is! Cheap? I probably spent about $8 to prepare a 4 person portion. So yeah it's cheap too! Delicious? Good enough for me and LR!

failure?

Nothing to complain about! So here's the recipe...

Yam Rice (serves 4 person)

Ingredients

500g yam, diced in 2 inch cubes

100g dried shrimp, soaked in warm water and drained

100g dried scallops, soaked in warm water and drained

8 dried mushrooms, soaked in warm water, sliced and drained

4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

2 small shallots, finely sliced

2 tsp pepper

2 tsp sesame oil

2 cups of rice, washed and drained

4 cups of chicken stock

2 tbsp dark soya sauce

Serve with

small bunch of corriander

sweet dark sauce

Method

1. Heat up 2 tbsp of vegetable oil

2. Fry the garlic and shallots till fragrant

3. Add the yam and fry till slightly browned

4. Add in the shrimps, scallops and mushroom and fry till fragrant

5. Add sesame oil and pepper

6. Add in the rice and fry for 10min

7. Dish everything into a rice cooker

8. Add in 4 cups of chicken stock and cook accordingly to the rice cooker

9. When cooked, season with dark soy sauce and serve with corriander and sweet dark sauce

lady marmalade biscuits

why?

I was flipping through my Bake It recipe book and came across this recipe for thumbprint biscuits and I couldn't resist making these cute little jam filled cookies :)

success?

They tasted really light and almost had a texture of a macaroon, coupled with the marmalade filled centre to give the buttery biscuits a nice tang of citrus flavour with the right amount of bitterness. I would definately try this recipe again with other jams and possibly even chocolate!

failure?

They really didn't had the crunch of being a biscuit and they expanded so much! In future, I would reduce the pre-baked size of biscuits and maybe try the recipe with less baking powder and soda.

Lady Marmalade Biscuits (Makes about 45)

Ingredients

250g unsalted butter, softened

140g icing sugar, sifted

1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

90g cream cheese, softened

1.5 tsp of vanilla essence

zest of 1 whole orange

350g plain flour, sifted

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

6 tablespoons of marmalade

Directions

1.Preheat the oven to 180 degree celcius

2.Grease baking sheets

3.Cream the butter, icing sugar and egg yolk till pale and fluffy

4.Beat in the cream cheese, vanilla and orange zest till smooth

5.Combine the flour, baking powder and soda and salt with a wooden spoon

6.Until a soft dough firms up, set aside for 10min

7.Break off small pieces of dough to shape into balls

8.Flatten slightly and make a small indent in the centre of each with your thumb

9. Spoon in the marmalade into the small indent

10.Bake for 10-12mins

11.Cool for a few minutes on the tray then transfer to a wire rack

candied chicken wings

meatball noodles

why?

GBS organised a picnic last Saturday, and it was requested for me to prepare beehoon. To me frying beehoon would be automatically labelling myself as an Ah-Soh!! Of course, I wanted to prepare something close to the request of beehoon but still try something exciting :) So began to pour through all my cook books to find something to cook. I found this recipe in Nigella's FEAST book and as I read through how to prepare the dish I discovered that even when it comes to cooking, there can be an element of surprise and mystery! I bet you must be wondering as you look at the picture above and cannot help but ask "Where are the noodles?" Haha... that's the surprise! The noodles are actually mixed with minced meat to form the meatball noodles!

success?

This dish is so easy to prepare and it definitely got people asking where the noodles are! Yeah, this is really a 'cheap thrill' experience, but I did get a kick out of it! Haha.. It does look pretty as well, but somehow the noodles were not visible enough.

failure?

Somehow Nigella's recipes never turn out great for me at least. On my part, I knew that from my many experiences trying out her recipes, so I already knew I had to tweaked the recipe to add more spices and seasoning but the meatballs still ended tasting too bland for my liking. Yes, the recipe did call for Thai sweet chilli sauce to complement the meatballs, but it should not be bland on its own! And the meatballs could have turned out much worse if not for my added ingredients...Sigh, I wonder if she really did pen down the recipes accurately. I watch her on television and I am more incline to think she has not been as meticulous as she should be :(