Tasty Meaty Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

I think some of you will agree with me. There are some food that have never been on the "To-cook" or "To-taste" lists before. Then out of the sudden, they manage to call out for your attention and make you crave for them. Weird! But it just happened to me!


I suddenly want to make some meatballs.Tasty meatballs to go with some pasta. I did some research on the internet and talked to some experts. It is rather different from what the Chinese would do for meatballs. I narrowed to some key ingredients for delicious meatballs: Mixed meat (beef and pork), cheese, breadcrumbs and herbs. 


I find this recipe reaps nice meatballs with tender and bouncy (QQ) texture. The taste is yummy but subtle. The sauce which I feature here is very good but if you have a favorite recipe or a ready-made sauce, I am sure it will work too!

Recipe (25 meatballs)
Meatballs
Ingredients:

• 400g Ground Beef
• 150g Ground Pork
• 1 Egg
• 1/4 cup Whole milk
• 1/2 Breadcrumbs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 tsp Ground Black pepper
• 1/2 tsp Dried Oregano leaves
• 1/4 tsp Paprika (Optional)
• 1/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

Steps:

1. Mix all ingredients by hand in a large mixing bowl. 
2. Mix them well.
3. Roll the mixture into meatballs about golf ball size. 
4. In a pan over medium heat, add 2 tbsp of cooking oil. Add in the meatballs carefully, sear all sides till brown. Remove when done.
5. All them into tomato sauce. Simmer for at least 30 minutes. 

Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 large can of Tomato puree
• 1/2 cup Beef stock
• 1/2 Green pepper (optional)
• 2 cloves of Garlic, chopped
• 1/2 Onion, chopped
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/4 tsp Ground Black Pepper
• 1 tsp Sugar
• Olive oil
• Grated Parmesan Cheese

Steps:

1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, add 2 tbsp of olive oil. 
2. Add in garlic and onion. Saute till fragrance and onions turn transparent.
3. Add in green pepper. Saute for 2 minutes. 
4. Add in tomato puree.
5. Add in seasoning and meatballs. 
6. Simmer for at least 30 minutes. 
7. Serve with sprinkled Parmesan cheese. 

Guest Post for Whickit Blog: Bubur Cha Cha

Merry Christmas everyone! This year has been one of the most satisfying for me. To be able to immerse in a different country has been the most exciting. I am very privileged to be involved in the local community in different ways. This has helped me to blend in quickly. 

In my participation in food swap, I met Salina, a wonderful lady from Whickit. I am glad to be invited by her to write a guest post on Whickit Blog to share something from Singapore. 

This is 'Bubur Cha Cha' a popular and street dessert made from sweet potatoes, yam and sago in coconut cream. 

Please visit Whickit Blog find out more about my guest post and this recipe!

Curried Carrot and Cilantro Soup

My refrigerator is reaching its bleakest moment... it is emptying .... Yes, we skipped a week of grocery shopping. No luxury of options so our stomachs were asking for some creativity. I need something to start a dinner of apricot glazed chicken drumsticks (Yes, we are having it again because it was so good!) and pan-fried brussels sprouts. I pulled my vegetable drawer in the fridge and I had only a few carrots and some sprigs of cilantro left. 


How about carrot soup? Ya I know... not appealing at all. I am sure with some innovation it will be an awesome soup! And it did turn out really great. My food critic (aka hubby) gave thumbs up too! 


I like the depth of curry powder. It makes food tastes so exotic and rich. This spice definitely adds some $$ value to a plain old carrot soup. The use of cilantro was really quite a genius as it brings out a citrus-y and healthy taste. I know cilantro may not be everyone's favorite but it has a place in our house. Yea!!!

Recipe (Serves 3 -4) 
Ingredients:

• 3 medium Carrots, peeled and cut into dices
• 1 Onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 handful of Cilantro, chopped
• 1 tbsp Curry powder
• 2 cups Beef stock (you can use chicken or vegetable stock)
• 1/2 cup Water
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Heavy cream (optional) 
• 2 tbsp Olive oil

Steps:

1. In a heavy saucepan, heat olive oil on medium heat. Add in chopped onions and stir well. 
2. When onions turn transparent, add in carrots. 
3. Stir for 2 minutes and add in beef stock and water. 
4. Let it boil on medium heat until the carrots turn very tender. Use a fork to test. 
5. Add in cilantro and simmer for 2 minutes. 
6. Using an immersion handheld blender or a liquidizer, blend the soup until all ingredients are fine. Be careful as soup is very hot. 
7. Return the saucepan with soup to low heat. 
8. Season the soup with curry powder, salt and pepper. Simmer for another 5 minutes. 
9. Serve with a drizzle of heavy cream. 

Italian Sesame Cookies for Boston Cookie Swap

I am going to Cookie Swap today organised by Boston Food Swap and Swap.com. What I like about this cookie swap is that for every cookie swapped, GLAD will donate 10 cents to Cookies for Kid's Cancer. Isn't this wonderful? This makes it all meaningful for this holiday season. I have made more than 30 of these wonderful sesame cookies and another 30 more coconut cookies for the swap. I hope everyone in the swap will get to try them and enjoy the season of giving!

I learnt this recipe from an 'Italian cookies' baking class in Boston Center of Adult Education. These cookies taste so good especially so for me as I LOVE Sesame seeds. The punch that the aromatic seeds have is really awesome. This cookies are great with coffee or tea. Can you picture yourself sipping a cuppa and munching on these lovely cookies on a fine Sunday afternoon? Interestingly, I always thought that sesame seeds are from the East!


Recipe (For 4 dozens)
Ingredients:
1 Large Egg
1/2 cup Shortening
1 1/2 cup Flour
1/2 tsp Baking powder
3/4 cup Granulated sugar
1/4 tsp Salt
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
Sesame seeds, raw


Steps:

1. In a mixing bowl, cream shortening with sugar, egg and vanilla essence.
2. Mix flour, baking powder and salt into the sugar mixture. Mix well.
3. Using hands, take a handful of dough and roll into a rope.
4. Cut it into 1 inch pieces. 
5. Coat the pieces with sesame seeds. 
6. Lay them on a cookie sheet.
7. Bake at 350°F for 12 minutes or till light golden brown.  

Sweet Bananas in Coconut Cream with Toasted Sesame seeds

I was planning for a Thai Cooking Challenge for my Culinary club. The menu looks good except that it needs a dessert!! I needed something that is easy and quick. But most importantly easy on the palate because we have international friends in the club who might not be able to take exotic Asian taste. 


After browsing Sam and Forest Leong latest recipe book, I saw something I like, "Bananas in Coconut cream". Perfect! I had some bananas which I just bought so I quickly tried out the recipe. Mmm... Mmm! The bananas are sweet and soft. And the coconut cream adds a layer of creaminess and a tint of saltiness which that enhances the entire gastronomic experience. My hubby then said,"How about some toasted sesame seeds to go with it!" That is a marvelous idea. We tried that and it was really a brilliant suggestion. 


I have used large bananas to try this recipe. I sliced them equally before cooking so to make cooking more manageable. I suggest that if you can get hold of small bananas, use them as they look more presentable. 


I hope this recipe will work out well for the coming Thai Cooking Challenge. It will be so much fun!

Recipe (Serves 5) 

Ingredients

• 150ml Coconut Cream
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 400g Sugar
• 200ml Water
• 10 - 20 Small bananas, peeled and soaked in water with 1 tbsp lime/lemon juice for at least 15 minutes
• 1 tbsp of toasted Sesame seeds

 Steps

1. Toast sesame seeds on a pan over low heat. Remove when they turn light golden brown. Set aside.
2. Prepare sauce. Mix coconut cream with salt and boil over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Boil sugar and water over high heat until sugar dissolves. When syrup starts to thicken, turns heat to low.
4. Drain the bananas and add to the syrup. Cook, stirring occasionally, until bananas start to become translucent, about 10 -15 minutes. Do so gently to prevent bananas from breaking.
5. Drain bananas from syrup and top with coconut sauce. Sprinkle with some sesame seeds.
6. Serve immediately.

Potato Latkes wth Spicy Habanero Jelly

In my stay in Boston, I made many friends. Friends from all over the world. One of them is M, she is from Taiwan and she loves food and dining too. We hit off immediately and have been hanging out frequently. At a recent foodswap which we attended together, we tasted for the first time Habanero Jelly. Both of us fell in love with it. Unfortunately, I did not managed to swap for the prized item. But M did. So she shared with me. Oh my.... it was so gorgeous. Well, I was so captivated with the jelly and started browsing the internet for a good recipe. Trying to figure out the ingredients that will contribute to a good Habanero jelly, with much effort I nailed it! Hence I invited M to come and make some spicy and sweet Hanabero jelly. 


Habanero is rated one of the hottest chili in the world. It is given 100,000–350,000 on the Scoville scale whereas Bird-eye chili (Commonly used in Asia) is only rated 50,000 - 100,000. Be careful when you deal with them. My hands experienced hot sensation even though I minimized contact with it. 

After making the jelly, M and I tasted it. Wooh! It was much better than the one we had at the foodswap. It was magnificent (and quite spicy despite both of us love spicy food). Right after M left my place, I started to think of what to have for dinner. After browsing some food magazines, I decided to make some Potato Latkes. Then a sudden thought came to my head! Why not dip it with Habanero jelly! So I did! It was a marriage made in heaven! Yummy... You got to try these out!

Spicy Habanero Jelly 
Recipe 
Ingredients:

• 60g Hanabero chili 
• 30g Yellow Bell pepper
• 1/3 Big yellow onion
• 1/2 cup Apple Cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 cup Sugar
• 6g Pectin 

Steps:

1. Puree chili and peppers with 1/4 cup of vinegar.
2. Boil the puree chili mix with sugar and rest of the vinegar for 10 minutes. 
3. Stir in pectin and keep boiling for 1 minute. 
4. Remove from heat. 
5. Skim foam.
6. Mixture will form when cooled. 

Potato Latkes

Recipe (Makes seven 3" pieces)
Ingredients:

• 2 large potatoes
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 Egg
• 1/6 cup All-purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp Salt 
• Cooking oil 

Steps:

1. Peel and coarsely grate the potatoes. 
2. Toss with lemon juice. 
3. Chop the onions and mix it with the potatoes. 
4. Using a clean kitchen towel, wring out as much liquid as possible from the potatoes and onions. 
5. Put the potatoes and onion to a clean mixing bowl. 
6. Add in egg, flour and salt. Mix well.
7. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat. 
8. Fill a 1/4 cup with latke mixture and carefully place it on the pan.
9. Using a slotted spatula, flatten latke mixture into 3" patty. 
10. Fry till the undersides turned golden brown. Turn over and cook the other side golden brown too. 
11. Repeat for the rest of the latke mixture. 
12. You may keep them warm in a 250 degree Fahrenheit oven for up to 1 hour. Or you may fry them again for 2 minutes on each sides.   

Apricot Glazed Chicken

Dear readers, I am writing this post with great happiness and gratitude that I have found a wonderful and sure-win recipe that I will give 5 BIG stars out of 5. This Apricot Glazed Chicken is AMAZING... You cannot believe it! It is so tasty and amazingly flavorful that my eyes were gleaming in tears. Seriously, I was gratified with joy!


Don't let the usual barbecue look of these chicken pieces fool you. These chicken pieces are packed with goodness to activate your taste sensors and let them relive your best moments. This is a MUST try! I shall keep this post short so you can go cook NOW!

Recipe (Serves 4) 
Ingredients 

• 1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
• 1/8 cup finely chopped peeled ginger
• 1 tbsp of finely chopped onion
• 2 tbsp of cooking oil
• 1/4 cup of Red wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup Light soya sauce
• 1/2 cup Apricot preserves 
• 1/8 tsp salt 
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 8 Chicken Drumsticks

Steps:

1. Fry the shallots, ginger and onions in oil in a small saucepan, over medium heat. 
2. When it softened and turned golden, add in red wine vinegar. Boil until it reduced by about half. 
3. Add light soya sauce, apricot preserves, salt and pepper. 
4. Simmer for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.
5. Remove from heat. Using a hand blender, blend the liquid until smooth. 
6. Cool the liquid to room temperature. 
7. Marinade the drumsticks with the liquid. You may use a ziploc bag. Put in the refrigerator overnight. 
8. Preheat the oven to 425 degree Fahrenheit. 
9. On a baking tray, lay 2 layers of aluminium sheets. Grease lightly. 
10. Arrange drumstick in 1 layer on sheet. 
11. Roast the chicken, turning once, for 40 minutes. 

Adapted from Gourmet Holiday

Poached Bosc Pears in Red wine

Back in the olden days, Romans cultivated pears and only eat them cooked. They would stew them with honey. Then slowly people moved to enjoy pears stewed in wine and spices. But presently we enjoy pears in many ways: fresh, canned, juiced and dried. 


Hmm.. I think pears is an under-rated fruit. Why? Perhaps it does not have a distinct taste and not delicious when unripe (which is most of the cases when bought from the supermarket). I enjoy eating ripe and soft pears as they are extremely juicy and sweet. But it always seems so difficult to get pears to ripe. But do you know that the trick is to place pears in room temperature and put them next to bananas. I think there must be some chemical reaction between the two. 


The funny thing is that no one should associate your gal friends to a pear (even though you think she does look like one). Women hate to have pear-shaped body, small at the top and heavy at the bottom. 


This dessert which I am sharing requires pears which are hard and unripe as it has to be stewed in red wine for some time. Bosc pears are best for this as they are denser and firmer. So if you have ripe and soft pears, please just savor it fresh as it is.  

Recipe (Serves 3-4)
Ingredients

• 2 Bosc Pears (Halved and cored)
• Half a bottle of red wine 
• Half a lemon, juiced
• 1/2 cup of Sugar
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1 small Cinnamon stick
• Half a Star anise

Steps:

1. Prepare the pears. 
2. In a saucepan, lay the pears flat and add in wine. Ensure that the pears are submerged. 
3. Add in the rest of the ingredients. 
4. Bring the wine to boil and reduce the heat to a simmer. 
5. Cook the pears till tender. Use a toothpick to test. Takes about 30 minutes.
6. Remove pears and put aside. 
7. Boil the rest of the liquid and reduce to a thick glaze. 
8. To serve, drizzle the pears with glaze. Ice-cream is optional.