Super Easy Chocolate Banana Ice Cream

This is one recipe too easy not to make, absolutely no additive and preservative! With our kind of hot climate that can melt you without the air-condition turned on, your kiddos will love you for this sweet treat.. ;)

Ingredients:

• 4 ripe banana, cut small cubes (don't use the overriped)

• 2-3 tablespoon fresh milk

• 2-3 tablespoon chocolate chips

Makes about 8 scopes of ice creams.

The Making:

1. Freeze the banana chunks overnight or at least 3-4 hours.

2. Blend the frozen banana using a food processor. I used a hand blender so need to add some milk to soften it, otherwise the milk could be optional.

3. Once the banana turns to a creamy texture, add the chocolate chips and blend on high speed for a few seconds. 

4. Freeze the ice cream for at least 2 hours before eating. I added some Hershey's chocolate syrup with rice sprinkles and this really made the duo's day!

Few days later the duo asking for some sweet treat after school, since we had some leftover Choco banana ice cream, I decided to let them have Se ice cream crackers instead and they loved it!

Hope you enjoy this simple but healthilicious snack as much as we did...

Just a note: this ice cream melts kind of fast compare to the normal ice cream, so do serve one scope at a time of little one is a slow eater.. 

Kids Friendly Beef & Mushroom Pie

I have a sudden craving for pie, hot piping meat pie like the ones we had in London, paired with a pint of cold ale. Perhaps it's the raining weather, or just the desire to travel.

So I searched for some best pie recipes and decided to stick with Jamie Oliver's  Aussie Humble Pie, I used to watch his cooking show in late night and he's still one of my favorite hosts. 

I made some minor adjustments to the recipe to make it kids friendly -- replacing  ale with non-alcohol malt drink and added some green peas which the kids like. 

The duo absolutely love these pies, they ate 2 slices each and finished everything on the plate, including mushrooms which they usually picked and chucked aside. So I must say this recipe is a keeper!

Hot Beef & Mushroom pie....

The thick gravy is just oh-so-nice!

Ready to bake (before applying egg wash..)

Ta-da.... The pies are served.

I made 2 medium size pies with this recipe, or you may use a larger pan too. It's more than sufficient for 4 persons sharing.

Preparation Time: 45min

Waiting Time: 2-3h

Cooking & Baking Time: 2h

  

The Ingredients:

For the filling:

• 500gm beef, cut into chunks (Jamie's recipe uses 1kg)

• approx 2 dash of ground pepper

• approx 6 dash of nutmeg powder

• 8 fresh brown mushrooms, sliced 

• 2 whole carrots, cut into small chunks

• 2 palmful of frozen green peas

• 2 clove garlic, diced 

• 2 shallots, diced

• 2 sprigs rosemary (add more dried rosemary if you wish) 

• 250ml Malta drink (replacement for pale ale)

• 1 tablespoon tomato purée 

• 1 tablespoon plain flour

For the dough:

• 600gm plain flour

• 150gm unsalted butter, cut cubes 

• 150gm shredded cheddar cheese (I reduced to 100gm)

• 1L cold water

• 1 egg yolk, beaten

• spray cooking oil / extra butter for brushing 

The Making:

Little E snapped a shot of mommy preparing the pie base.

1.  Heat up 2 table spoons of olive oil, sautée the onion, garlic, and follow by carrots. Add salt and rosemary, cook for about 10 minutes then set aside. 

2. Season the beef with salt, nutmeg powder, pepper and 2 tablespoon of olive oil, mix well. Heat up a pot and cook the beef on high heat until turns brown.

3. Pour malt (or ale if you prefer the authentic taste) into the pot, follow by flour and tomato purée. Add 1L of water and let the liquid boils. Stir occasionally to ensure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot.

4. Add the sliced mushrooms, cooked vegetables and green peas. Then close the lid and let it simmers on medium heat for about 1.5 hours or until the gravy is thicken. Let the stew beef cold down completely before using (I transferred it to a pot and keep it in the fridge) 

Preparing the dough - you can make this a day earlier and store it in the freezer compartment (covered in cling film)

5. In a clean mixer bowl, add shredded cheese into the flour, follow by butter cubes. Rub to mix with your hands then gradually add in water. Continue mixing until you get a smooth dough. Cut half, half to be used for dough base and the other for the pie top. 

6. Using a rolling pin, spread out the dough on a clean surface to form a large square, then lay over the baking pan (coat with a layer of cooking oil or melted butter to avoid sticking). Cut off the excess edges (refer to picture above), then wrap the dough base with cling film and let it sits in the fridge for 2-3 hours or overnight.

Wrap the excess dough in a cling film to be used for pie top later.

7. Pour the stewed beef into the hardened dough base until full. Spread out the remaining dough with a rolling pin then cover the top completely. Cut off the excess dough at the edges and press the edges with a fork to form a neat lines pattern. Cut 2 or more small holes on the center top of the dough with a knife.

8. Preheat oven to 180°c. Brush the pie top with some egg yolk and bake for 15-20 minutes until it turns golden brown. 

Your kitchen will be filled with nice aroma of the pie once you open the oven door. Let it cool down then dig in and enjoy your piping hot pie... It's really mouth watering and my duo were actually fighting for more. :)

Need More?

You may want to hop over to Jamie's food tube and check out his video guide (click here to watch). This aussie beef pie is so delicious that it's worth the time to prepare it.

Mini Mooncakes for the Little Ones

Little ones loved the piglet mooncakes I bought for them last week, these are the traditional mooncakes that I used to eat when I was little. They certainly bring back beautiful childhood memory, those days when my neighbor kids and I carried our handmade paper lanterns and paraded the street. Nowadays they have battery powered lanterns making funny music. Ewk.

Anyway. I happened to drive pass a bakery supplies store one morning and I decided to take a peek inside the store.. and I saw there are tons of mooncake ingredients and supplies...

I.just.could.not.resist.the.temptation.

We made these mini mooncakes.

With red bean paste filling.

The ingredients. 

 

I got the duo to assist in making the mini mooncakes. They were so excited to "help up" as usual.

The making was simple, as we used premixed red bean paste for filling. You may substitute with lotus paste or mungbean paste too. Since mooncake festival is coming soon, this is one sweet delicacy that can really wow your guests during the festive season. 

Original recipe is adopted from Christine's Kitchen, you may want to refer to her recipe for traditional mooncakes (it's written in Chinese). She even shared the steps to making your own golden syrup and mooncake fillings so you really ought to visit her site if you are leaving abroad. She is one of the few bloggers who inspired me to bake and cook as she made everything look so easy.

Preparation time: 60 minutes

Banking time: 12 minutes

Serving size: 12 mini mooncakes

Ingredients:

A) For the mooncake skin

• 100gm plain flour

• 60gm golden syrup 

• 28gm pure peanut oil

• 1/2 teaspoon alkaline water

B) For the paste

• 300gm red bean / lotus paste (original recipe used 420gm)

C) For egg wash

• 1 egg yolk

• 2 tablespoon egg white

Steps:

1) Mix

Mix all ingredient A in a mixer / bowl and roll them into a smooth dough using a spatula. Set aside for 40 minutes and covers with a cling form. There's no need for an electric mixer. 

2) Shape

Shape the mooncake mixtures into equal ball of 15gm each, and the lotus / red bean paste to 25gm each (Christine made hers at 35gm). Flatten the mooncake mixture with a rolling pin then then wrap it around the paste. Roll into small balls with your palms. Little ones can handle this step very well.

3) Mold

Using the mooncake mold, press each mooncake firmly but not super strength as you won't want them to crack... My boy sure learnt the hard way as he had to redo a few times before he managed to have smiling Mickey without cracks.

4) Admire

Yeah, just take a moment to admire your hard work.. Ours are kind of uneven, that's the price to pay when letting little ones be involved.

5) Bake

Preheat oven to 180°c, place the mooncakes onto a baking tray (with a layer of baking sheet or sprinkles with some flour to avoid sticking), bake them for 10 minutes; remove from oven, apply the egg wash (ingredient C) with a soft brush, then continue baking for another 2-3 minutes until golden brown. 

6) Wait

The mooncakes are done! However, you should let the mooncakes rest for 2-3 days before eating and you will notice the surface turns to a smooth golden layer.

Or you may be like us, just eat them right away.. LOL. I told you my little ones and I love traditional mooncakes, didn't I? 

Enjoy... Next I may challenge some cute piglet mooncakes. That looks too cute to resist.

All 6 steps in one picture collage for your easy reference. Feel free to share the picture of your mooncakes! ;)

Steam Chocolate Cupcakes 蒸可可小蛋糕

The kiddos often complain hungry in the afternoon, lack of any snack to offer today, I decided to make some cuppies to fill up their ever-grumbling tummies.

They gracefully offered to help up (more like mess up) and it only took about 40 minutes before we sat down to enjoy our delicious homemade treats.

The steam cuppies were fluffy and soft, Little E liked it so much that he munched up 3 cuppies before I managed to stop him from sneaking another one...

 

Cuppies, anyone?

So fluffy...

Preparation Time: 25 Minutes
Steaming Time: 18-20 min
Serving size: 12 medium cupcakes 

Ingredients:

• 120g all purpose flour 120克普通面粉

• 20g unsweetened Cocoa powder 20克无糖可可粉 (I used Hershey's cocoa)

• 1 tbsp baking powder 1茶匙发粉

• 180g unsalted butter 180克无盐牛油 (cut into cubes 切小方块)

• 70g granulated or brown sugar 70克幼糖 （我用粗黄糖）

• 3 medium eggs 蛋三颗

 

The Method:

1. Using a mixer, blend butter cubes and sugar on high speed until well mixed. Add the eggs one at a time. 

把牛油和糖混合，快速搅拌均匀后，逐粒加入鸡蛋。

2. Sieve flour, cocoa powder and baking powder into a clean bowl, then add into the butter mixture, mix well on medium speed until you get a creamy texture.

把面粉，可可粉和发粉筛过，加入牛油混合物中，用中速把面粉搅均。

3. Scoop equal amount of dough into the cupcake holders - until about 3/4 full.

把搅拌后的面团倒入小杯子里，约七分满即可。

4. Place the cupcake holders over a steamer with lid closed, steam on high heat for 18-20 minutes.

放入蒸炉，关盖大火蒸约十八至二十分钟即可。

5. Once done, remove from stove and let cold before eating. You may keep them in an air tight container for later consumption, the cuppies were still soft and fluffy when we had them for tea time the next day.

冷却后可立刻享用，也可以装入密封罐，第二天还是松软可口的哦！

{Breadmaker Recipe} Bread Making Day (simple bread dough)

We had a long weekend break thanks to the Hari Raya holiday, so I invited my sisters to come over and have a bake-off day. My eldest sister is really good at bread making!

After a busy morning, these are some of our beautiful baked goods.. Almond breaded buns, cheddar cheese buns and blueberry bins.

Raisins, Nutella and peanut butter buns too..

I made the dough a night earlier and left it to slow-rise in the fridge compartment overnight, covered with a cling form. Look how big it became the next morning? Perfect for baking. 

Simple round shape dough, endless molding possibily. The muffin pan is perfect to keep the round shape, just make sure you lightly oil each cupcake holder to avoid sticking.

Preparation Time: 30 Minutes
Baking Time: 10 - 15 min
Serving size: 10 - 14 buns

Ingredients:

• 280g high gluten flour 

• 50g unsalted butter

• 2 tbsp / 12g milk powder

• 3 tbsp / 36g granulated or brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon / 5g salt 

• Half of a medium egg (25g)

• 160ml water at 5c°(I just added some ice cubes) 

• 1teaspoon / 2.8g instant dry yeast

For Filling:

• Blueberry sauce (from bakery supplies store)

• Chicken floss

• Peanut butter jam

• Nuttela

For Toppings:

• 1 egg yolk for brushing 

• some almond flakes 

• shredded cheddar cheese / powder

The Method:

1. add all ingredient into bread pan, except yeast in the yeast dispenser.

2. Select menu "9" (for Panasonic BM) or Bread dough recipe on your bread maker. Press "start".

3. When the dough is ready and you should heard the beep beep sound (44  minutes later), you can either:

• leave the dough in the pan, cover in a cling form and leave it to rise overnight in the fridge (NOT freezer!)

• cover the pan with a clean tower and let the dough rise for 45 minutes until it rises fully.

4. Knead the dough with a rolling pin to remove bubbles (air) from the dough, then shape the bread according to your prefered shapes. Place them in a tray (sprinkle with flour or oil at bottom to avoid sticking) and cover with a clean towel / cling form, let them rest for about 1h (the dough shall grow double in size). 

5. Brush egg yolk over the top of the bread and add the toppings.

6. Bake at 180°c for 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Keep a close eyes at final few minutes to avoid burnt buns.. Let the bread cold on a rack for about 30minutes before consuming.

Tips:

The buns made with this recipe is super soft and the softness can maintain up to 3 days, the key is to give it enough time for second rise.

Abalone Soup Noodle with Bean Curds 鲍鱼汁捞面，好好吃

bilingual | 双语版

I found a leftover can of NZ Wild abalone which I bought during Chinese New Year, we were not exactly in the mood to celebrate when my late mom departed us during CNY, so it had been left idle in the kitchen shelf for months.

Anyway, I decided to make a quick but luxury meal - canned abalone soup noodle, with broccoli and bean curds, and the kiddos absolutely loved them. E finished his bowl of noodle in record fast time (like 3 minutes?!) and instantly asked for a second bowl. So I quickly cooked another fresh batch of noodle, which only took me 3 minutes, topped with some soup and wa-lah, he finished it within minutes. If only he eats this fast everyday. :)

Our serving. Kids have theirs without the abalone slices, as its too chewy for their liking. You can try to cut the abalone into small dice and the kids may be able to enjoy it.  

The wild abalone I used, slightly smaller than a palm size. Got this from Soon Thye Hang during their CNY promo, you may checkout their website for a branch near you.

Preparation time: 10 min 十分钟准备

Cooking time: 10 min 十分钟烹煮

Serving for: approximate 4 pax 越四人份

Ingredients 材料：

• 1 canned abalone in clear stock 清汤鲍鱼一罐 （红烧也可）

• 1 stalk broccoli, cut small 西兰花一棵，切小段

• 1 carrot, cut flora / round shape 红萝卜一个，切片/花状

• 12 slices bean curd 豆腐皮数片

• 12 flat noodles 扁面条12个左右

• Water half cup 水半杯

We like this organic flat soya noodle, has a nice scent and not too soft to bite. 
我家爱吃这有机黄豆面条，有淡淡的豆香又不会太软。

The Making 做法：

1. Boil a pot of water (just enough to cover the broccoli), cook the broccoli and carrots for about 2 minutes, scope aside.

用中型锅煮滚水后，放入西兰花和红萝卜烫熟 （越两分钟），捞起待用。

2. Toss the noodles into the boiling water, cook for 3 minutes, or as per the time indicated on the packaging. Scoop the noodles, lightly soak in a bowl of cold water, then equally distribute them in the dinner plates. 

用同一个锅把面条煮熟（三分钟左右），捞起，过冷河，适量分布在碟子里。

3. When the noodle is cooking, use a wok, heat up the abalone sauce (DONT cook the abalone!), add half cup of water as the sauce is quite salty. Once bubbles are forming, toss in the broccoli, carrots and beancurd. Let it simmer for about 1-2 minutes. 

在煮面条同时，烧热锅，把鲍鱼汁加小半杯水煮滚后，置入红萝卜，西兰花和豆腐皮，滚越一至二分钟，熄火。

4. Scoop the soup and cooked veggies over the noodles, top with abalone slices, serve hot and enjoy!

把热鲍鱼汁和料倒在面条上，把切好的鲍鱼片摆在面上，热腾腾的鲍鱼捞面即可上桌！

IMPORTANT: Abalone is a type of Mollusca which falls under the shellfish family (like clams, scallops), so there is a risk of allergy reaction. Please be cautious when introducing to young toddler for the first time and do avoid introducing to little ones below 2yo if possible. Afterall canned abalone is a processed food and contains preservative.

注意事项： 鲍鱼属于贝壳类（像蚵，扇贝），部分人可能会有过敏反应，小朋友如果是第一次尝试的话要注意是否有过敏反应。我个人不建议给两岁以下的孩童食用， 而且罐头食品始终难免有防腐剂和较重的调味料。

Useful Tips 小提示…

• The abalone sauce is very rich in taste and I find it rather salty, so I added some water to dilute it. Adjust it according to your personal liking. 

我个人觉得鲍鱼汁太重味了，所以加入少许水调稀，你可依照你的味蕾来调整。

• You may serve this dish as a main dish without the noodle but add on some mushrooms, it is actually one of the favorite CNY dishes during Chinese family's reunion dinner which signifies a wealthy life ("Bao" in the abalone means full or filled)

在汤汁里加入几颗冬菇，省略面条，这也是道很道地的新年佳肴之一。鲍鱼鲍鱼，让你年年饱满哦…

{Breadmaker recipe} Easy Peasy Homemade Pizza

Only have an hour to prepare dinner? What about some homemade pizza? We had ours ready in slightly more than an hour, and that's because I let the duo helped out, otherwise it would have been much faster.. 

Pineapple Cured Ham, Button Mushrooms & Bell Pepper Pizza

Tuna Pizza & Cherry Tomato Pizza

This recipe uses my Panasonic breadmaker, but you can do it without a machine too.

Ingredients for pizza dough:

• 280g high protein / high gluten flour

• 15g unsalted butter

• 2 teaspoons sugar (optional)

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 190ml water

• 1 teaspoon instant yeast

Pizza Toppings - as per picture below:

The Making:

1. Drop all ingredients into the breadmaker pan as per listed sequence, yeast in separate yeast drop compartment, then select "Dough" menu (#9 on Panasonic), the dough shall be ready in 45 minutes.

For mixer method, refer here thin crust sausage pizza.

2. Once done, remove dough from pan immediately, or you may leave it in the pan if you want to let it ferment (that will be ideal for thick pizza) 

3. Preheat oven to 210°c.

4. Using a rolling pin, spread out the pizza dough to 2 large rectangular or circulr shapes, spread with a layer of tomato purée then follow by the filling of your choice (ham, bacon, salami, mushrooms, bell peppers, cherry tomato etc), top with loads of shredded mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese. I sprinkled some fresh parsley leaves too.

Ready for bake.

5. Bake each pizza for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Let it cool down slightly then cut with a pizza cutter.

I made some fresh garden salad with roasted sesame dressing... Sprinkled with lots of roasted almond flakes for extra crunchiness, cranberries & golden raisins for natural sweetness. Never a meal without some fresh veggies :) 

Bon appetite!

Kids-Friendly Curry Chicken

My little boy had been asking me for curry chicken recently, somehow he needed to prove that he is one brave kid (he relates eating hot & spicy food to being brave, LOL, bad influence from the mommy who loves all thing spicy). Since I'm back from work early today, I decided to stop by the supermarket and get some fresh ingredients to make him a not-so-spicy, kids friendly curry chicken. 

Surprisingly, both him and the little sister loved their curry, they even requested for more rice and insisted to top their rice with curry! *happy*

The potatoes tasted exceptionally good, scroll down and I will share with you the secret..  

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes 

Serving for: approximate 4 pax

Ingredients:

• 8 shallots, 4 clove garlic, 1 small thumb ginger; finely chopped (you may use a food processor)

• 25gm curry powder for meat

• 1 stalk fresh curry leaves

• 300gm fresh coconut milk / evaporated milk

• 1 cup water (or more if you find the curry too thick)

• 4 medium potatoes, peel and cut into wedges

• 500gm/4 whole chicken legs, chopped and rub evenly  with salt

• 1 medium tomato, cut 8 

• 12 stalks long beans, cut strips 

• Few fried bean curds (tou pok), cut halves

• Salt to taste

If you like your curry hot, add 1-2 table spoon of chili paste.. But since I'm making this for the kids I have skipped the chili paste altogether, added extra potatoes instead.

The Making:

1. Heat up 2 large spoon of cooking oil in a large wok, deep fry the potatoes for about 3 minutes until golden, scope aside to drip off the excess oil.

2. Using the remaining oil in the wok, sauté shallots, garlic & ginger until fragrance (about 2 minutes). Add the curry powder and water; stir well to mix.

3. Toss in the chicken follow by potatoes. Cover the wok and let it simmer for 3 minutes.

4. Add the curry leaves, tomatoes and milk, mix well and add salt to taste. Let the curry simmer for another 8 minutes.

6. Add the long beans and bean curds, cook for another 2 minutes and your curry is ready.

Serve hot with white rice & enjoy!

Useful Tips...

• My late mom had taugh me a trick to making extra-yummy potatoes -- deep fry the potatoes before adding them into the curry, this gives them a crunchy crust while maintaining the softness inside. This also prevents the potatoes from falling apart when cooking in the curry. My kiddos could not resist the potatoes and had 3-5 pieces each...

• This is a very mild curry,  but do prepare some drinks for the little ones. :)

Enjoy!