Fried Egg Prawn (虾仁抄蛋）

This is now my hubby's favorite egg dish.  Just add all the ingredients together to cook for about 5-10mins, a nicely smell and mouth-watering dish is ready.  Yum Yum!

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 8 medium-sized prawns, peeled and deveined
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp soy source
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1-2 green Onion, chopped
• Cooking oil

Steps:

• Combine cornstarch, soy source & salt together in a bowl, mix well.
• In another bowl, beat the eggs with a fork until blended
• Add the cornstarch mixture and prawns into the bowl of beaten eggs, mix well
• Add cooking oil in a wok, bring to high heat until hot, swirling to coat the side
• Add the egg mixture and cook 
• Gently stir the eggs occasionally and cook till the shrimp begin to curl and thoroughly cooked
• Transfer to a serving plate, sprinkle with the green onion and serve   

  

Rice Cooker Mushrooms Chicken Rice （香菇鸡饭）

I use a rice cooker to prepare this mushrooms chicken rice - a healthier, quick & easy way to prepare a meal, which is less oily since it's 'steamed-cooked'.

It is a simple and straight forward one-dish meal recipe and always come in handy especially when i do not have time to prepare a 3 dishes 1 soup complete meal.  I just have to prepare a quick and simple soup like mint leaves soup to go with this mushrooms chicken rice. 

This might not look very appealing as i have to omit the dark soy source since my kitchen do not have one, but it tasted good.  So if you have dark soy source, you may add it to the recipe and you can enjoy a better looking cum tasty Mushrooms Chicken Rice.   :)

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups rice
• water to cook rice (according to manufacturer's instructions)
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken meat, cut into cubes 
• 6-8 dried mushrooms 
• 2 eggs 
• Some vegetables (e.g Kai Lan or Bak Choy)
• 1-2 green onions, chopped
• 2 tbsp oyster source
• 1 tbsp soy source
• a dash of sugar and salt each

Steps:

• Thoroughly clean and rinse the chicken, drain well
• In a bowl, combine the chicken, oyster course, soy source, sugar and salt - mix well and marinade for 20-30mins (the longer it marinade, the better its taste - i normally prepare it in the morning, and put it in a fridge for dinner)
• In a bowl, soak the mushrooms with water until softened, about 15-20mins
• Drain well the mushrooms, discard the stems and cut the mushrooms into pieces, mix it with the chicken marinade prior to add into the rice cooker to cook
• Wash the rice, add the water and cook rice 
• Open the rice cooker lid and add the chicken & mushrooms marinade into the rice cooker when the rice is about 3/4 cooked (the water is bubbling and almost dried up when open the rice cooker lid)  
• Add the eggs and vegetables into the rice cooker when the rice is almost cooked (final stage of cooking)
• When the rice is done, open the rice cooker lid and use a spatula to roughly stir quickly, then close the lid and keep warm for at least 20mins to ensure the chicken & eggs are thoroughly cooked through.
• Use a spatula to mix well the ingredients with the rice, sprinkle with the green onions prior serving.

Note:

• I used boneless & skinless chicken to ease my girls in eating, you may use boned chicken if you wish
• The longer you marinade the chicken, the better its taste.  I normally marinade the chicken in the morning and put it in the fridge for dinner.  Bring it out from the fridge 20mins before cooking to let the chicken resume back to room temperature prior cooking.  If you marinade the chicken for such long, soak the mushrooms only 15-20mins prior to cooking. 

Portland Spirit River Cruise Dining

Portland Spirit is the Northwest's premier dinner ship, has two enclosed decks that seat 340 guests plus an outer deck.  It offers dinner, lunch, brunch cruise as well as 'sight & sips' cruise.  We chosen lunch cruise as it works best for our girls schedule.

It was a beautiful sunny Saturday when we aboard Portland Spirit for downtown lunch cruise, a perfect day for river cruise. :)

This two-hour cruise offers fine dining at own private table with northwest cuisine, live piano music and the Portland downtown skyline.  There were quite a number of people joining the cruise on that day, it was almost full. 

My two little girls were very excited when been told to aboard the ship and have their lunch there.  Our luck was not bad that we were being seated on a table next to the window and facing the live entertainment stage.  The crew service is good and the ambiance set the mood. 

Prior to departure, there was a brief intro from the captain and a safety demo from a crew.  With a welcoming song from crew members, here we go for the beautiful Portland downtown skyline... 

While waiting for the food served, we had a quick visit to the outer deck. 

 

I didn't expect much on the food as for the one of its kind dining experience like this, normally the food is not really the selling point.  However the first item served - a basket of hot bun, has proved me wrong.  The bun was soft and tasted together with butter, it was yummy. 

Then come the entrees.  We were allowed to order 4 entrees though children below 4yrs old are FOC (what a great deal!).  I was surprised that the food served were tasty, especially the Chicken Pomodoro, which my girls kept asking for more. 

 

Chicken Pomodoro - Stewed chicken with tomato, artichoke, fresh herbs etc.
Served with mashed potatoes and sauteed seasonal vegetables



 Hubby had the steak and he was satisfied with it.    



Came Adobada - Chipotle marinated, charbroiled shoulder tender steak topped with fine roasted salsa.
Serve with mashed potatoes and cotija cheese



The smoked salmon pasta tasted not bad, but the Open Faced Crab Melt was so so only.

  

Wild Smoked Coho Radiatore Pasta - Tossed with asparagus, shallots, shiitake mushrooms and a clam be hamel sauce. Topped with shredded Parmesan





Open Faced Crab Melt - Crab meat, artichokes, tomato, ricotta and three cheeses on a toasted focaccia.
Served with shaved apple and pear salad with micro greens and raspberry vinaigrette



After completing our meal, we went to the outer deck again for a breeze and enjoyed the scenic view.

 

The girls visited the captain's work area and were fortunate to be offered the Honorary Captain's certificate for outstanding seamanship. 

They were happy to be invited to select a treasure from a treasure box, of course......as the treasure box was full of candy!!

There was Queen Melissa's Tea Party going on at the cruise as well.  Apparently, this Queen Melissa's Tea Cruise is available till May on Saturdays. 

We all enjoyed the cruise dining very much and had an afternoon of fun.  It was indeed a one of its kind dining experience, especially for my little lovers.



My 5yrs old drew this when back home, she said that is us had fun on ship....LOL



 

Happy Birthday!

Special day needs deco...even a simple one.  A bouquet of tulip from hubby and a lovely greeting card with cute message + drawing from my 5yrs old just made the perfect one. 

Together with a yummy cheesecake, a one of its kind intimate river cruise dining experience with my 3 lovers, the overwhelming greetings from family & friends on FB.....what else can i ask for a perfect birthday celebration?

Hubby has been saying wanna to get a cake from cheesecake factory, but i thought it would be a great chance for me to try my 1st homemade cheesecake instead since i seldom bake a 'real' cake if not for special occasion.  Well, baking own birthday cake may sounds a bit pity to some, but i totally enjoy it and thankful for given such opportunity to practise my cake baking.  :)

My 1st try of cheesecake - a heartshap birthday cake

When eating the cake, my 5yrs old told me that she wanted to finish all of the 'ice-cream' on top.  As the cake was in the fridge for 'bout 7hrs prior served and my fridge is pretty cool, she thought the cheese was the ice cream!  (LOL).  My little one just non-stop eating & she finished everything given to her.  Hubby commented it was better than store-bought and he liked it more than the one from cheesecake factory.  (Wow....what a compliments!) ;D 

  

The downtown lunch cruise experience with Portland Spirit River Cruise Dining just made the day. 

Though i've experienced the dinner river cruise during a business trip attending my company conference in Portland previously, but enjoying it leisurely together with my dearest family was totally a new kind of experience for me. 

A Birthday Toss from my 2 little lovers

We all enjoyed it very much, especially my two girls.  More details of our lunch experience with Portland Spirit River Cruise will be on my upcoming post.  Stay tuned ya...  ;)
      

Clover Leaf Rolls

I tried to make my homemade bread in different 'look' sometime to spice up our daily routine.  I made this clover leaf rolls with basic white bread ingredients, just increase yeast to 1 1/2 packages and sugar to 1/8 cup.

Ingredients:

• 62.5ml milk (i used fresh milk)
• 1/8 cup sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 TBSP butter
• 1 1/2 package active dry yeast
• 187.5ml warm water (105F to 115F)
• 330g all purpose flour

Steps:

• Place milk, sugar, salt and butter in a small saucepan.  Heat over low heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves.  Cool to lukewarm
• Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed mixer bowl
• Add lukewarm milk mixture and 220g flour, start mixing on speed 2 with an electrical mixer/stand mixer, about 1 min
• Continuing on speed 2, add remaining flour in two additions, about 55g flour at a time, mix about 1-2min, or until dough starts to clean sides of bowl
• Continue kneading on speed 2 for about 2 min longer, or until dough is smooth and elastic.  Dough will be slightly sticky to the touch
• Place dough in greased bowl, turning to grease the top 
• Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in warm place about 15 min
• Turn dough onto lightly floured surface, divide dough into 12 equal pieces.  Form each piece into a ball and place in greased muffin pan.  Cut each ball in half, then quarters.
• Cover the muffin pan and let rise again in slightly warm oven (90F/32C) about 15 min
• Bake at 425F/218C for 12 min, or until golden brown
• Remove from pan immediately after baking done and cool on wire rack 

   

Egg Tart (蛋挞)

Egg tart is one of the classic menu in any of the dim sum restaurant.  The one that i like most is from Golden Gate Bakery at San Francisco.  When hubby & me were at Folsom, we will never miss to pack some of those tasty tart from the bakery whenever we visited San Francisco.  While i'm not a fan of egg tart, but those from Golden Gate Bakery are really delicious that i find hard to resist whenever i was there.  :P

It seems that my two little lovers enjoy eating egg tart whenever we visited the dim sum restaurant, since then, it was added to my 'to do' list. 

I tried my 1st egg tart making last weekend.  Since i do not have the tart molds, i'm using the muffin pan instead.  It's definitely no way close to the one from Golden Gate Bakery, and it doesn't look very 'tart' like.  While the muffin pan probably aids to the difficulty of making a nice looking tart, but i would also think that i need more practice on shaping the mold.  Luckily the taste was not bad....at least my whole afternoon time & effort were not at waste.  ;P

Ingredients:
   
For the pastry:

• 140g butter
• 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 egg
• 70g icing sugar

For the fillings:

• 300ml water
• 140g white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 60ml milk

Steps:

1. Mix all the pastry ingredients into a dough (some recommended mix with hand, but i just use the stand mixer to do the work for me.  :P)
2. Transfer the dough to a slightly flour surface and knead to ensure everything is mixed, and form into a ball
3. Refrigerate the dough for 20min or till it's in a workable state
4. Meantime, start to prepare the filling by boiling the water and the sugar (no need to stir it), then leave it cool
5. When the dough is ready, roll it out into a 1/2 inch thick sheet, use a circle cookie cutters to cut out 12 circles, coat one side with some flour, then place the circle on a greased muffin pan (with the flour side up), press it with thumbs to form the shape for the pastry.  Repeat the process till all the dough been used up 
6. Preheat the oven at 390F/200C
7. After the sugar water is completely cool down, mix the milk & eggs into the sugar water with a fork or whisk
8. Sift the mixture, then pour into the tart dough on the muffin pan, 80% full and bake immediately
9. Bake at 392F/200C for 15-20min, place it in the middle rack for baking
10. Egg tart is ready when a toothpick can stand upright on the middle of the filling
11. Let it cool for 5-10min, take the tarts out from the muffin pan, should come out easily

Recipe source: DessertzHouse

Mango Chicken

Mango is one of my hubby's favorite fruits, since i have some left over of Philippine mango we bought last week, i used it to prepare this dish - mango chicken. 

Ingredients:

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast (cut into cubes)
• 1 or 2 mango (peeled and cut into cubes)
• 1 tsp chopped garlic
• 1 tsp cornstarch, dissolved in 1 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 tbsp of nuts (optional)

Marinade:     

• Combine 2 tsp soy source and 1 tsp cornstarch, mix well
• Add the chicken to the marinade and stir to coat evenly, let stand for 10mins 

Sauce:

• Combine all the below ingredients in a small bowl and stir till the sugar dissolves
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp oyster source
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar

Steps:

1. Place a wok/stir-fry pan over high heat until hot, add the oil and swirling to coat the sides
2. Add the garlic and cook, stirring until fragrant
3. Add the chicken and stir fry till the chicken is cooked
4. Add the sauce and bring to a boil
5. Add the cornstarch solution and cook, stirring until the sauce boils and thickens
6. Add the mango and stir to mix with all the ingredients
7. Transfer to a serving plate, sprinkle with the nuts on top and serve 

Fried Spaghetti

Besides the normal way of preparing the spaghetti with the tomato pasta source, sometime i fried it.  I normally prepare my fried spaghetti 'white' vs 'black' - which is less soy source, less oil, less stir fry, which i personally feel would do better to serve my 2 little lovers.  ;P

Ingredients:

• Spaghetti, 1/3 of a package (about 8 oz)
• Chicken/Pork meat (sliced)
• Vegetables (e.g. Bak Choy; Kai Lan etc)
• Prawns (peeled, deveined & cut into pieces)
• 1 tsp chopped garlic
• 1 tbsp soy source
• Cooking oil
• Salt to taste (optional)

Steps:

1. Cook the spaghetti according to the instruction given in the package (i.e. Cook the spaghetti uncovered in a pot of boiled water, stir occasionally according to the suggested time.  I normally add a tsp of oil and a dash of salt to cook)  
2. Remove from pot, drain well and set aside (add a tsp of oil on top of the cooked spaghetti & mix well to prevent sticking)
3. Place a wok/stir fry pan over high heat, add the oil and swirling to coat the sides
4. Add the chopped garlic and cook, stirring until fragrant
5. Add the sliced pork meat and prawns, continue cooking till the meat thoroughly cooked
6. Add the cooked spaghetti, stir fry to mix with all ingredients
7. Add the soy source & vegetables, continue cooking till the spaghetti tender, about 5mins
8. Transfer to a serving plate & serve

Winter Melon Soup with Dried Octopus & Enoki Mushroom (冬瓜汤)

I'm a strong believer that soup is nourishing, especially those that simmer for 2-3 hours, all the ingredients nutrition seems to be blended in the soup.  When i used to work, i don't have much time to prepare soup for my family, now soup is on my daily menu, just like many Chinese family, it is common to have a bowl of soup to go with a meal.

Today, i would like to write about winter melon soup.

This soup is cooling & nourishing, it is effective in helping to reduce 'heatiness' in the body.  As Winter Melon is rich in vitamin C, it is believed helps in fighting cold/flu.  I also heard from elderly before that  Winter Melon soup is ideal in removing phlegm from the lungs.  True or not, this soup is tasty enough to keep me repeating cooking it.

Though winter melon has a very mild taste, when prepared in soup together with ingredients like pork meat, red dates, wolfberries and simmer for 2-3 hours, the soup tasted good with soft, melt in mouth winter melon.

This time, i prepared it with added ingredients like enoki mushroom and dried octopus for a richer flavor.  

Ingredients:

• 2L water
• 1.5 pounds winter melon (skin removed, seedless & cut into cube)
• Pork ribs or pork meat
• Enoki mushroom
• 1 dried octopus (cut into pieces) 
• 1 tbsp wolfberries (枸杞)
• 6 red dates
• Salt to taste (optional)

Step:

1. Thoroughly clean the pork ribs/meat, rinse it with hot boiling water
2. Wash/rinse the dried octopus, wolfberries, red dates, enoki mushroom
3. Bring 2L of water to boil in a pot, add the pork ribs/meat and winter melon
4. Cook on medium heat for 30min 
5. Add all the rest of the ingredients and simmer under medium-low heat for 1.5 - 2 hours
6. Add a dash of salt and stir well
7. Serve warm 

Note:

• As it is a cooling food, avoid consuming if on early pregnancy

Strawberry VanilaChocolateCake Trifle

Thanks to a friend (SY) for sharing a sweet treat with us last week, inspired me on how to make good use of the left over cream cheese frosting in my fridge. 

I mimic her lemon strawberry trifle to come out with this Strawberry Vanila-Chocolate Cake Trifle.  

I made a mini vanila-chocolate cake with raisin, layered them with cream cheese frosting & strawberry, garnish with assorted nuts & raisin, then sprinkle a dash of cocoa powder on top.    

Mini vanila-chocolate cake

My two little lovers were having fun involved in making their own Trifle as well.  My 5yrs old made an additional one and she said: "Daddy is not home, i made one for him to eat when he is back".  So sweet, huh... :)

Trifle prepared by my little lovers

The two girls added a little sweet to their trifle by topping them with the gummy bear. ;P 

Easy Whole Wheat Bread (麦片面包）

A fresh loaf out from the oven is always irresistible.  A bite on a crunchy crust, warm soft bread with butter spread smoothly and almost melt on it.....Mhmm, too great a pleasure of eating!  
   

Fresh loaf of whole wheat bread out from the oven....smell good!!


I used to bake my homemade bread at night after my two little lovers on their sweet dream (which gave me peace of mind preparing the bread), this time, i have adjusted the schedule and bake it in the late evening instead.  Guess what?  The fresh loaf of whole wheat bread was left with less than half after it was out from the oven, and that was just right after the dinner taken!  My 3 lovers at home can't stop munching the warm, soft bread.  :)      
 

My two girls can't wait to taste the fresh bread

I was puzzled why my last two attempts of homemade bread looked a bit short, now this answered me....finally a well rise bread!  ;D


Ingredients:

• 1 pkg active dry yeast
• 1 1/8 cup warm water
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt

Steps:

1. Dissolve yeast in the water, add the honey and let sit 5min, until starts to foam/bubbling
2. Add the rest of the ingredients in warmed mixer bowl, stir and start mixing on speed 2 with an electrical mixer/stand mixer until dough starts to clean sides of bowl
3. Continue kneading on speed 2 for about 2 min longer, or until dough is smooth and elastic.  Dough will be slightly sticky to the touch
4. Scrape it onto a lightly floured surface and knead to form into a ball
5. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning to grease the top
6. Cover the bowl and let it sit at room temp, to double, about 1 hour
7. Punch, re-shape and rise again to double, about 45 min
8. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, shape the dough into a loaf 
9. Place it in greased loaf pan, cover and let rise to double, about 45 min
10. Place the loaf pan in a preheated oven at 400F/204C and bake for 30-40min
11. Remove from pan immediately and cool on a wire rack  

Honey Garlic Prawn

Try this and you will love it! 

The honey & garlic combination leave a subtle flavors in this dish that you will just addicted to it, just like my hubby fall in love with it the first time he tried the dish.  ;)

Ingredients:

• 10-12 medium-sized prawn, peeled & deveined (head separated & retained to cook together)
• 1 tsp chopped garlic
• 1 chopped green onions
• 1/4 of a yellow bell pepper, cut into thin slices
• 1 TBSP cooking oil
• A handful of cashews nuts

Marinade:

• Combine 2 tsp soy source and 1 tsp cornstarch, mix well
• Add the prawn (only prawn, leave the head aside) to the marinade and stir to coat evenly, let stand for 10mins

Sauce:

• Combine all the below ingredients in a small bowl and stir till the honey dissolves
• 2 TBSP oyster source
• 2 TBSP honey
• 1/2 tsp cornstarch
• 2 TBSP water
• 1/2 tsp soy source

Steps:

1. Place a wok/stir-fry pan over medium-high heat until hot, add the oil and swirling to coat the sides
2. Add the garlic and green onions, cook, stirring until fragrant
3. Add the prawn and the heads, stir fry till cooked
4. Add the yellow bell pepper and continue cooking
5. Add the sauce and bring to a boil
6. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring until the sauce thickens
7. Sprinkle the nuts, transfer to a serving plate and serve 

Deep Fried Fish

Really, no dish is comparable to a simple deep fried fish.  It is incredible that a deep fried fish with very basic ingredients is so yummy.  Perhaps our taste bud is too tired with rich flavor food sometime and appreciate the simple back to basic dish like a plain deep fried fish? :P

It is ashamed to say that i know how to do my first deep fried fish only on January this year (2012) in conjunction of Chinese New Year (CNY).  If it is not because we are abroad for CNY this year, and it is a tradition to have a whole fish as one of the CNY dish that symbolic abundance (年年有余), i guess i would not have try to prepare this dish.  ;P

Ever since then, this simple deep fried fish has become one of the popular dish in my family and my two little lovers just love it.  

Ingredients:

• 1 whole fish (or half) with bone  
• Salt
• 1 tsp chopped garlic
• 1 tsp soy source
• cooking oil for deep frying

Steps:

• Thoroughly clean/wash the fish, sprinkle the fish (both inside & out) with the salt - this help to reduce the odor of the fish
• Rinse the fish, drain well & pat dry with paper towels
• Slightly cut two lines on the middle of the fish body at both side, set aside
• Place a wok over high heat until hot, add the oil, swirling to coat the sides
• Add the garlic, stir fry till the garlic begins to brown, transfer to a bowl & set aside
• Pour oil (at least 1 inches deep) on a wok and bring it over high heat until hot (till small bubbles noticed when inserted a wooded chopstick on the oil)
• Carefully sliding the fish into hot oil, deep-fry till cooked and golden brown.  Turning the fish over in between to ensure both sides are thoroughly cooked
• Remove, drain and transfer to a serving plate
• Pour the hot cooked garlic over the fish, sprinkle the fish with 1 tsp of soy source and serve