A Recipe Blog

This isn’t really a recipe as it only involves plonking some toasted pine nuts in your favourite yoghurt, but hey! It was yum, so I’m sharing.

Basically, I just realised it past midday and I hadn’t really eaten anything substantial yet and was VERY hungry all of a sudden. You may know the feeling I mean, when you’re so hungry that you feel drained and don’t want to do anything complicated? I get like that after a big teaching day sometimes. Anywho, this is a quick solution to that!

I used “Apple & Rhubarb” flavoured yoghurt from New Zealand; the brand’s called The Collective Diary. Yummmm. Speaking of New Zealand, I know words will never suffice here but just cannot imagine what the people of Christchurch are going through right now with the devastation caused by recent earthquakes… I’ve visited Christchurch in the past, and it was such a beautiful city of amazing people and sights. I sincerely wish them all the best. I taught a student on Wednesday who has close family over there, and she was completely heartbroken and teary over it all understandably; luckily her family members are safe and sound.

All the best with your various adventures in cooking and otherwise everyone!

Tags: dairy, gluten free, nuts

I’ve been interested lately in the idea of ‘simple’(r) foods (see note no. 1 for more on why) and came up with something yum, where the flavour of the vegies and sesame oil really comes through. The water chestnuts add a beautiful crunchiness too (thanks to Mum for serving these when I was a kid, I love ‘em!). The mushrooms sort of substitute for meat in this dish, but I imagine it’d work well with beef or chicken instead, I was just feeling lazy :-P

The recipe calls for a wok. Thank you to James’s grandparents for the awesome Scanpan brand Wok I used, it’s a dream to use! Very easy to clean too.

Ingredients (Makes 4 small serves, 2 large)

• 500g fresh tapioca noodles (rice noodles will also suffice, available at some Harris Farm Stores & Asian Grocery Stores – see note no. 2)
• 1.5 tbsp sesame seed oil
• 1 tbsp peanut oil
• 250g snap frozen Coles Malaysian-style Stir-Fry Vegetables (e.g., Broccoli, Yellow Beans, Water Chestnuts, Sugarsnap Peas, Capsicum)
• 1 small bunch of baby bok choy, coarsely chopped
• 2 tsp fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 100g portbello mushrooms (chopped into small chunks)
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 2 tsp soy sauce (I use fountain brand as it’s gluten free; most soy sauce has wheat flour in it)

Directions

1. Soak the noodles in boiling water for about 10 minutes, then drain and leave aside.
2. Heat the peanut oil in a wok. Cook frozen vegetables & mushrooms until frozen vegetables are defrosted over medium heat (about 5 minutes), seasoning with mint leaves, 1 tsp garlic, salt & pepper. Stir occasionally.
3. Add noodles and stir well.
4. Add soy sauce, sesame oil, bok choy and remaining garlic. Simmer for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently to coat the noodles and bok choy in seasoned oil mixture.
5. Remove wok from heat and serve dish immediately (see below picture for the meal in wok before serving ^_^).

Note

No. 1: A lot of people only confirm they have food tolerances, and what exactly they are, after ruling out a lot of various preservatives, colours, fructose, lactose, etc. I don’t appear to be intolerant to anything but gluten (which I discovered by completely removing it from my diet), but I thought it would be interesting to try and make a meal with less ingredients than I’d normally use to see what the result would be. Conclusion = Can still make a very tasty and easy meal!

No. 2: Unfortunately I’ve noticed that more and more of the fresh tapioca noodles and rice noodles available at the moment have ‘wheaten cornflour’ listed as an ingredient (gah), therefore they are NOT gluten free if this is a concern for you. There’s always dried rice noodles though, such as Chang’s brand gluten free ones. Fresh are better if you can get them though; tastier.

Tags: boiled, gluten free, noodles, quick, stir fried, vegetarian

Another result of fun-in-the-kitchen experimentation. An original recipe that worked out very well, if I do say so myself! Has a big tick from my Mum & Dad, who had it with me for lunch. Note: We managed to eat it all before I remembered to take a photo with the cheese on top >_< But you can imagine, right? :-P :-)

Ingredients (Serves 3-4 – can be prepared the day before and heated in oven later)

• 200g shitake mushrooms, coarsely chopped
• 1 250g packet of Uncle Ben’s Wholegrain Mediterranean Express Rice (see note below for other options)
• 250g of chicken, sliced into thin strips
• 1 can of pureed tomatoes
• 2 tsp butter
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 1 tsp season-all (I used Masterfoods brand)
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp dill, finely chopped (I used Masterfoods brand)
• 1 tsp basil leaves, finely chopped (I used Masterfoods brand)
• 1.5 cups of frozen-fresh grated pizza cheese (I used Perfect Italiano Pizza Plus Cheese)
• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Lightly spray a fry pan with oil and lightly brown the chicken strips all over on medium-low heat, stir occasionally and seasoning with dill and season-all.
3. In the meantime, heat the express rice for 90 secs and put aside.
4. Put cooked chicken aside. Spread cooked rice onto the bottom of a deep casserole dish with a lid.
5. Fry shitake mushrooms with the butter and 1 tsp salt over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally.
6. When mushrooms are browned, pour in tomato puree and add remaining salt, pepper and basil. Cook for 1 minute, stirring occasionally.
7. Take tomato mixture off heat. Add chicken and stir, then pour over rice in casserole dish.
8. Pour all of the stock into the casserole dish and mix well.
9. Top the casserole with pizza cheese, spread out evenly to cover the whole dish.
10. Place lid over casserole dish, and cook in the oven for about 20 to 25 minutes.
11. Serve, with a light salad if desired.

Note

Instead of the packet of Uncle Ben’s Wholegrain Mediterranean Express Rice, you can use another kind of tomato-flavoured rice (e.g., tomato & basil instant rice), or just plain brown rice.

Tags: chicken, gluten free, oven baked, pan fried, rice

I’ve been experimenting a lot with my cooking and making up recipes of my own accord lately; this is a result of one such experiment. I made these for my Grandma’s birthday :-) We lunched on them together and she gave them a thumbs up.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 4 large flat portobello mushrooms
• 1 250g packet of Uncle Ben’s Wholegrain Mediterranean Express Rice (see note below for other options)
• 250g of chicken, sliced into thin strips
• 1 over-ripe avocado
• 1.5 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp cracked pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp season-all (I used Masterfoods brand)
• 1 tsp dill, finely chopped (I used Masterfoods brand)
• 2 cups of frozen-fresh grated pizza cheese (I used Perfect Italiano Pizza Plus Cheese)
• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Lightly spray a fry pan with oil and lightly brown the chicken strips all over on medium-low heat, stir occasionally and seasoning with dill and season-all.
3. In the meantime, heat the express rice for 90 secs and put aside.
4. Mash the avocado well and mix in lemon juice, salt and pepper to make a light paste.
5. Mix cooked chicken with cooked rice and put aside.
6. Wipe mushrooms with a damp cloth/paper towel, and cut out stalks. Spoon out some of the black gills and underside of the cap to make the mushrooms look like little bowls with depth for stuffing (see wikipedia image for definition of gills).
7. Spread avocado mixture on inside of mushroom ‘bowls’. Top with rice and chicken mixture.
8. Top the mushrooms with about 1/2 a cup of pizza cheese per mushroom.
9. Cook in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes.
10. Serve, with a light salad if desired.

Note

Instead of the packet of Uncle Ben’s Wholegrain Mediterranean Express Rice, you can use another kind of tomato-flavoured rice (e.g., tomato & basil instant rice), or just plain brown rice.

Tags: chicken, gluten free, oven baked, pan fried, quick, rice

A while back, I made a mandarin, hazelnut, almond and coconut cake. After positive feedback (even from my bro who is notoriously picky!) I’ve made another variation using the same basic recipe with some changes. Basically, I’ve used chocolate and banana instead of the almond and mandarin. I’ve also used LSA meal (Linseed, Sunflower Seed and Almond Meal) instead of the hazelnut meal. Its available in health stores and the health food aisle of many supermarkets. See below for changed recipe (it has a tick of approval from hubby & family :-) :-D).

Ingredients (makes 12 slices)

Tags: blended, chocolate, coconut, fruit, gluten free, nuts, oven baked, vegetarian