Broiled Parmesan Tilapia

I didn't know fish could be this flavourful until I tried this recipe. I found this recipe along with the recipe for Shrimp Scampi and thought it will be a good idea to give it a try. Packed with cheese, mayonnaise and spices. A must-try if you like fish! Healthy too!!

Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese
1/4 Cup Butter, softened
3 Tbsp Mayonnaise
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1/4 Tsp Dried Basil
1/4 Tsp Ground Black Pepper
1/8 Tsp Onion Powder
1/8 Tsp Celery Salt (I used normal salt)
2Lbs Tilapia Fillets

Steps:
1) Preheat oven's broiler. Grease broiling pan or line pan with aluminium foil/parchment paper.

2) In a small bowl, mix together the Parmesan cheese, butter, mayonnaise and lemon juice. Season with dried basil, pepper, onion powder and celery salt. Mix well and set aside.

3) Arrange fillets in a single layer on the prepared pan. Broil a few inches from the heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the fillets over and broil for a couple more minutes.

4) Remove the fillets from the oven and cover them with the cheese mixture on the top side. Broil for 2 more minutes or until the topping is browned and fish flakes easily with a fork. Be careful not to over cook the fish.

- Broiled Parmesan Tilapia -

It's a great dish to serve with baked/mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables. It goes well with rice too!

Shrimp Scampi

About a month or so ago, a friend recommended that I try making some Aglio Olio, so I went in search of the recipe. In the process, I came across this recipe and it caught my eye. Well, it's shrimp, and I don't think I can resist any shrimp recipes.

Ingredients:
1 Lb Linguini (I used Spaghetthi)
4 Tbsp Butter
4 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (I used virgin olive oil)
1 Large Shallot, finely diced
5 Cloves Garlic, sliced
Pinch of Red Pepper Flakes, optional
1Lb Large Shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 Cup Dry White Wine (I used white wine)
1 Lemon, juiced
1/4 Cup Parsley Leaves, finely chopped (not a big fan of parsley so I left this out)
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Steps:
1) Cook pasta al dente as per instructions on packaging. Drain and reserve 1 cup of water.

2) In a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter in 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Saute the shallots, garlic, and red pepper flakes (if using) until the shallots are translucent, about 3 to 4 minutes.

3) Season the shrimp with salt and pepper. Add to the pan and cook until they have turned pink, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the shrimp from the pan. Set aside and keep warm.

4) Add wine and lemon juice to skillet and bring to a boil. Add the remaining butter and olive oil. When the butter has melted, return the shrimp to the pan along with the parsley, cooked pasta and reserved pasta water. Stir well and season with salt and pepper.

- Shrimp Scampi topped with grated Parmesan Cheese -

Enjoy~ =)

Cornflakes Chicken

As usual, I've been constantly looking for new ways to cook chicken (I don't eat beef and I don't really like pork dishes). I was checking my yahoo mail when I came across this recipe. When I first saw the picture, I thought the chicken was deep-fried (which I really want to avoid at all cost because it's unhealthy and leaves behind an oily kitchen). When I looked through the recipe, I was somehow shocked that it was baked, which is my favourite way to cook because it saves time (you can just leave it to bake in the oven) and it's healthier. A win-win-win situation because Ashley likes it too. He says it tastes kind of like KFC.

Ingredients (serves 4):
4 Chicken Drumsticks
4 Chicken Thighs
Salt and Pepper
1 Large Egg
2 Cups Crushed Cornflakes (I used about 3 cups)
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 Tsp Cayenne Pepper (optional)

Steps:
1) Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towel. Season generously with salt and pepper. Leave aside.

2) In small bowl, Whisk egg with 1 tbsp of water (I left out the water because I tried it before and whatever I want to coat the chicken with kept falling off since it's more diluted).

3) In a shallow plate, mix crushed cornflakes with olive oil, cayenne pepper (if using) and salt.

4) Preheat oven to 400°F. Working with one piece at a time, dip chicken in egg then cornflake mixture and press to adhere. Place on baking sheet.

5) Bake for 30 mins until golden brown and crispy. Sprinkle with salt and pepper before serving (I left this out since I feel the chicken is seasoned enough in the first step).

- Dinner on a weekend night -

A good side dish for this would be mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables (season with salt and pepper if you like). I steamed some brocolli and baby carrots to go with it.

If you like your chicken slightly sweet, you can dip the chicken in honey instead of egg before coating it with cornflakes. I believe you can use ranch but I've yet to try it. Will definitely experiment the next time.

Long-awaited Polo Buns

Since a few years ago, my mum loves to buy bread from Breadtalk in bulk so that we can have it for breakfast for a couple of days. My brother particularly loves bread and he can eat a couple of those buns for breakfast. I think he even finished 1 whole loaf of those half-dozen buns before. I would always look for 'milkyway' (I suppose it's a polo bun since it looks like one and tastes like one) in the breadtalk bag filled with all kinds of bread.

I found this recipe from Lily's webby quite some time ago, but never had the chance to try it out. So, when I first got the standmixer, I knew I had to make some polo buns.

Ingredients (makes about 15 buns):
(A) Sponge:
350g High Protein Flour (I used bread flour)
2g Instant Yeast
210ml Water

(B) Main Dough:
150g High Protein Flour
10g Instant Yeast
100g Castor Sugar
8g Salt
8g Bread Improver
20g Milk Powder
35g Water
50g Butter
25g Shortening
1 Small Egg, beaten (for glazing)#

#I think it would be better to use just the yolk. I used the whole egg (including the white) and the top of the polo bun was not as yellowish as I exptected it to be but the bottom is already slightly burnt so I cannot put the bun in the oven any longer to brown the top.

(C) Polo Skin:
50g Butter
50g Margarine
100g Icing Sugar
Pinch of Salt
1 Large Egg, beaten
8g Milk Powder
200g All-Purpose Flour, sifted

To make sponge:
1) Combine all ingredients in (A) in a mixing bowl knead with a dough hook at low speed (I knead it at speed 2). Stop kneading when all ingredients are just combined to form a dough.

2) In an oiled mixing bowl, prove dough for 4-5 hours until surface of sponge dough looks perforated and forms spiderweb-like structure when pulled away from edge of mixing bowl.

- Perforated enough?? I wonder... -

- Is this spiderwebby enough?? Hmm... -

To make polo skin:
1) Sift icing sugar and milk powder into mixing bowl. Add butter, margarine and salt. Beat until mixture is light and fluffy. Add beaten egg gradually.

2) Fold in sifted flour until a smooth dough is obtained. Refrigerate skin dough in fridge if it's sticky and too soft to work with.

To make polo bun:
1) Combine sponge dough prepared earlier and all ingrdients in (B) (except water butter, shortening and egg) in a mixing bowl. Use dough hook of mixer to knead mixture at low speed (speed 1).

2) When all ingredients are just combined, add water gradually and continue to knead until surface of dough looks smooth.

3) Add butter and shortening a little at a time. Use med-low speed (speed 2) to continue kneading dough for about 10 mins. Increase to med-high speed (speed 4) and knead for another 10 mins. Dough should be elastic, smooth, non-sticky and pulls away from sides of the bowl. To test, stretch a pinch of dough. It should form a think membrane before breaking.

4) Divide dough into 65g portions. Roll each into a ball and rest for 10 mins.

5) In the meanwhile, divide polo skin dough into 30g portions. Round up. Dust each portions of polo skin with flour and press to form round thin sheet. Spray water on surfaces of bread dough and lightly press polo skin dough on each bread dough so that it covers 90% of bun's surface.

- Finally done!! -

- Close-up of my polo bun -

6) Prove bread for 1 hour or until double in size. If polo skin does not break as a result of the proving, use knife to lightly draw pineapple skin pattern on the skin. Brush polo skin with beaten egg and bake in preheated oven at 390°F (200°C) for 15-20 mins.

- Glazed and ready to bake -

- Looks good!! Happy~~ -

I find it's a little too hard. Like a bagel. Notice that my polo skin is covering the whole of the bread? I wonder if that is the reason for my bun being too hard since it might have prevented the bun from proving properly.And I think I didn't cut the pineapple skin pattern deep enough because they didn't crack at the right places when it came out from the oven. Other than that, it's good!! Ash thinks it's nice too. Will try to improvise and update.

Anyway, it's confirmed that we will be flying back to Singapore on Christmas morning. So we will basically miss Christmas flying since by the time we reach Singapore it will already be 27th (Singapore time). How nice would it be to be in Singapore by Christmas. Sigh.

Dark Chocolate Soufflé

Chocolate never fails to brighten up my day. I think chocolate is the most delicious invention ever, period. That, I believe, most girls will agree with me.

Anyway, I bought a few bars of Ghirardelli dark chocolate for the cheesecake and I had a couple left and since I already have the ramekins (from the creme brulee), I made some chocolate souffle.

Ingredients (serves 2):
1 Oz(30ml) Heavy Cream/Whipping Cream/Double Cream
4 Oz(1 bar) 70% Cacao Dark Chocolate (I used Ghirardelli 60% baking Chocolate bar)
1/2 Tbsp Butter
2 Large Eggs (separated into whites and yolks)
A dash of Cream of Tartar (I left this out)
1/6 Cup Sugar

Steps:
1) Prepare 2 6oz (180ml) ramekins by applying a layer of cold butter to the interior of the ramekins. Use fingers to apply an even thin coat of butter to all parts of the ramekin including the sides. Pour some granulated sugar into the ramekin and shake and roll the ramekin to coat the bottom and sides with sugar.

2) Preheat oven at 375°F. Bring some water to a boil in a pot. Once the water boils, reduce the heat until the water just simmers. Place a small metal bowl over the pot to form a double boiler. Melt the butter, cream, and chocolate in the double boiler. Stir to help the melting. Once the chocolate has melted, turn off the heat. Whisk egg yolks into the chocolate.

3) In a medium bowl, whisk egg whites with the cream of tartar until the egg whites reach soft peaks (foam has reached the point where the egg whites stand up when the whisk is lightly dipped into the foam and gently lifted out. The tip of the peak should droop. If the tip stands up straight, then it has reached the stiff peaks stage). Add the sugar to the egg whites and continue to beat until you reach stiff peaks.

4) Adding the whites a little at a time, fold them into the chocolate mixture. Without over mixing, fold the remaining egg whites into the batter.

5) Pour batter into the prepared ramekins. Fill them at least 3/4 of the way up. Place ramekins on a baking pan and place the pan in the oven on a rack set in the middle position. Bake the souffles for 15 minutes. Serve immediately (either in ramekins or you can choose to remove the souffle from the ramekin once it's cooled).

- Chocolate Souffle fresh from the oven (it didn't have the chance to fall because we finished it in less than a couple of mins) -

For step-by-step guide with pictures, click here. I baked the souffles for slightly over 15 mins because when I checked the progress at the 15 min mark, the centre of my souffles are still moist. All chocolate lovers should try this. Have fun~~

Chilli Prawns

Made some chilli prawns for dinner the other day. Used the sauce for chilli crab because the sauce is really nice. My favourite sauce for crab and prawns so far *drools thinking about it*

- Chilli Prawns -

Will be uploading the recipe for chocolate souffle next. Keep coming back~~

Szechuan Chicken

Sometimes I feel so sick of eating chicken cooked the same way that I totally don't even feel like eating. So, I constantly search for new ways to cook chicken. I have always loved having Szechuan dishes, like Ma Po Tofu and Szechuan Vegetables Soup (which my mum used to cook and I will always have multiple sarvings of it), just to name a few.

So, when I saw this recipe for Szechuan Chicken, I knew I had to give it a try. I was a bit hesitant to try this recipe because the last time I tried a recipe from this website, it was for Coca Cola Chicken. I know, right? It sounds kind of too adventurous. And the results? Not so good. I guess it's becuase I didn't cook the chicken long enough. They were all soaked in the coke and they tastes kind of weird to me. It's kind of tasteless except for a tinge of coke, like I accidentally dropped a can of coke into the pot when I'm cooking.

Anyway, I decided to give it a try. No pain no gain right? I was happy that it didn't turn out as disappointing as the Coca Cola Chicken.

Ingredients for Szechuan Sauce (Yields 4-5 Tbsp):
1 Onion, chopped
5 Cloves Garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp Cooking Oil
1 1/2 Tbsp Light Soya Sauce
1 Tsp Dark Soya Sauce
1 Tbsp Black Vinegar
1 Tsp Sugar
1/4 Tsp Salt
1 1/2 Tsp Chilli Powder
2 Tbsp Green Onion/Chives, chopped
1 Tbsp Sesame Seeds (I left this out)

To make Szechuan Sauce:
1) Heat oil in wok. Add onion and garlic into wok and fry for a while.

2) Add the rest of the ingredients, except for green onion and sesame seed, and bring to boil over high heat. Once it boils, reduce the heat and simmer for a while, until it dries up.

3) Add green onion and mix well. Remove from heat. Add in sesame seed and mix well. You can prepare this ahead of time and refrigerate in a container until needed.

Ingredients:
800g Chicken Pieces/7 Drumsticks
1 Tsp Ginger, chopped
1 Clove Garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp Cooking Oil
1 Spring Onion, finely sliced
4-5 Tbsp Szechuan Sauce
1/2 Tbsp Oyster Sauce
1 Tbsp Shaoxing Wine
100ml Water

Steps:
1) Heat oil in wok. Saute ginger and garlic.

2) Add chicken pieces/drumsticks and stir fry until golden brown. Stir in the Szechuan sauce prepared earlier together with oyster sauce, shaoxing wine and water. Cover and simmer until chicken is cooked and sauce is thickened (10-15 mins). If it's drying up too fast, I would recommend that you add more water.

3) Sprinkle with green onion and serve.

- Szechuan Chicken all dried up -

My Szechuan Chicken dried up too fast and I find it's a little too saltish, so I would really recommend that you check on the progress of the chicken now and then and add more water if it's drying up. Ash likes it. So do I =)

Chicken Claypot (Rice Cooker) Rice

I can't even tell you how much I love this recipe (from Lily's). It's extremely easy to make (there's not much to do for preparation except for marinating the chicken pieces a few hours ahead, soaking the chinese mushrooms, and cutting the sausages and mushrooms!! There! The steps are covered!!), you don't have to stand there and watch while it's cooking (it's all cooked in a rice cooker), it's a one-dish meal (you don't have to worry about what to serve it with), and best of all, you don't have any pots/pans to wash (you only have to wash the rice cooker!!!!)!!!! The most important thing is, it tastes delicious!! It's a great dish to serve and a delight to make (simple, fuss-free, time-saving).

Ingredients:
2 Cups Rice, washed and drained
2 Cups Chicken Broth
200g Chicken Pieces (I used slightly more)
5 Chinese Mushrooms, sliced
1 Chinese Sausage, sliced (I used turkey franks)
1 1/2cm-thick Salted Fish, sliced thinly (I didn't use any)
1 Tbsp Dark Soya Sauce#
4 Tbsp Garlic Oil*
1 Green Onion, chopped

#If you are going to add some of the marinade into the rice mixture like I did, you can leave this out since the rice will be salty already.

*I added a bit of garlic powder (about 1 tsp) into the rice mixture before cooking instead since I don't have any garlic oil around.

Marinade - 2 Tbsp Light Soya Sauce
- 2 Tbsp Oyster Sauce
- 1 Tbsp Dark Soya Sauce
- 1 Tbsp Cooking Wine (I used Shaoxing)
- 1 Tsp Ginger Juice@
- 1 Tbsp Sesame Oil
- 1/2 Tsp Pepper
- 1/2 Tsp Sugar
- 1/4 Tbsp Cornflour

@I didn't have any ginger juice so I ground some ginger (about 8 slices) instead.

Steps:
1) Marinade chicken and mushrooms in marinade for 30 mins (I left it in the fridge for a few hours for the marinade to work it's ways into the meat).

2) Put rice, chicken broth, chicken pieces, mushrooms, and chinese sausage (and about 1 Tbsp of the marinade if you like) in a rice cooker and cook.

3) After the rice is cooked, sprinkle salted fish on top, cover, and leave to stand for about 10 mins.

4) Sprinkle with green onion, dark soya sauce (if rice is not salty enough), and garlic oil, mix in to combine, and voila! Enjoy!

- Chicken Claypot Rice cooked in a rice cooker -

It's delectable even without the salted fish and chinese sausage. You can choose to cook this dish in a claypot instead. Do try this recipe. I have made this dish thrice in the past 1 month. That is how much I love it. So do Ash. 2 thumbs-up!!

Shrimp Fu Yung (Deep Fried Shrimp Omelet)

I remember the first time I had Shrimp Fu Yung I fell in love with it. The Fu Yung I had later on in my life was, more often than not, disappointing. So, I went on a quest to look for the best recipe for Prawn Fu Yung that I can possibly find. I found one which looked promising, and so one evening in our little kitchen in ST, I gave it a try. It's not that wonderful (I'm not a very good cook afterall), but I think it's a good attempt, and it's yummy. Definitely a keeper.

Ingredients (serves 4):
3/4 Lb Shrimp
1/2 Cup Bean Sprout
1 Med Yellow Onion
1/2 Cup Mushrooms
2 Green Onions
6 Large Eggs
Salt and Pepper
1 Tbsp Chinese Rice Wine (I used Shaoxing)

Steps:
1) Rinse shrimps. Pat dry and finely chop.

2) Rinse bean sprouts and drain thoroughly. Peel and dice onion. Slice mushrooms. Wash and finely chop green onions.

3) Heat some oil in frying pan. Stir fry shrimp until pink. Remove.

4) In large bowl, lightly beat eggs with salt and pepper. Stir in the rest of the ingredients.

5) In wok, heat 2 1/2 inches of oil for deep frying. When oil is hot, gently ladle 1/4 of the egg mixture into wok. Deep-fry egg until browned (about 2 mins), then ladle a bit of oil over the top so that it firms up.

6) Use spatula to gently turn omelet over and brown other side. Remove omelet with slotted spoon and drain. Serve with sauce (recipe below).

Ingredients for Fu Yung sauce:
1 Cup Chicken Broth
1 Tbsp Oyster Sauce
1 Tbsp Soya Sauce
Salt and Pepper
1 Tbsp Cornstarch
4 Tbsp Water

To make sauce:
Dissolve cornstarch in water. Bring chicken broth to boil in a saucepan. Stir in seasonings and thicken with cornstarch solution. Keep warm.

- Piping hot Shrimp Fu Yung -

The result was a 'light and puffy' Fu Yung (which I personally feels a Fu Yung should feel like when you put it into your mouth) instead of being thick and heavy. Worth the effort of deep-frying (which I detest since it often result in a very oily kitchen).

Tempura

My love for seafood goes way back. I remember my dad used to buy us crabs for supper whenever he return home late after work and I fell in love with crabs there and then. My love for prawns developed a little later, but I would never eat squid, clams, mussels etc. For some reason, the feeling of the thing refusing to break on my first bite gives me the creep. *grimaces*

Anyway, I had always wanted to make some tempura so when Ash suggests that I make sushi or something Japanese, I knew I had to give tempure a try (plus i bought a pack of ready made tempura mix a few days ago).

I made some Ebi Tempura and since I didn't know what vegetables to serve with it, I 'tempura-ed' some broccoli as well.

Ingredients for the dipping sauce:
1/2 Cup Dashi Soup (as usual, I used Chicken Stock)
1/8 Cup Mirin/Japanese Rice Wine
1/8 Cup Soya Sauce (or less)
1/4 Tbsp Sugar

Steps:
1) Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and heat over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Serve with chopped green onions if desired.

- Tempura Broccoli and Shrimp with dipping sauce and Teriyaki Chicken -

I didn't include the recipe for the tempura since I used a pack of tempura mix and all I did was to follow the steps on the packaging. Will try making some from scratch.