French Apple Cake

 Came back with something simple yet delicious...

Carrot & Zucchini Soup

I haven't cooked anything new recently since my husband keeps travelling on business trips..This weekend he happened to be in town and I decided to make this soup as a healthy lunch for him on lazy Sunday !

Ingredients:

1kg peeled carrots (diced)

2 peeled zucchini (~640g)

3 potatoes

2 celery branches

1 onion (diced)

3 garlic cloves (diced)

2 teaspoon cumin (powder)

1 teaspoons coriander (powder)

1/2 teaspoon ginger powder

1 teaspoon paprika (powder)

3l water

salt

pepper

a splash of Worcestershire sauce

Method:

Heat oil in a large pot on medium heat. Add garlic, onion & celery. Saute until onions are slightly browned, about 3 minutes.

Add carrots, potatoes, zucchini and all the spices. Mix and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the broth and bay leaf then bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until veggies are soft and fully cooked.

Turn off heat . In a blender, puree the broth and the veggies until creamy. Return to pot and mix well. Add worcestershire sauce.

Taste check for additional salt if needed.

Baked Mac & Cheese

I've made mac&cheese a few times but all of those are stove top version. This is the first time that I made a baked version which is similar to the one my friend always makes for her when we go to our farm in England!


The recipe which I asked my friend for it and the following is what she told me..


A basic cheese sauce , butter and flour made into a roux then milk added in slowly , with cheddar and Parmesan , I also put 1 tsp of mustard in either French or English , whichever you have, make it rather thick( I keep a cup of the pasta water aside  In case it's too thick , add a little if you need to ) Mix them well then lots of cheese on top into a warm oven (160) for 30 mins.


And below is what I used for the cheese sauce. ( For 5 oz. of macaroni )

30 g butter
1.5 tbsp flour
2 cups milk plus some water from cooking macaroni ( to loosen the sauce )
1 cups cheddar cheese plus more + some parmesan for topping
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp English mustard powder

I baked at 170c for 20 minutes..

  

Indian Spicy Dry-Fried Prawns

My husband has been eating more seafood & chicken than red meat since he started being on diet. And I chose to make this spicy prawn instead of salad or roasted dish to jazz things up for him !


The recipe 

Prawns / Shrimp -1 lb
Ginger garlic paste-1 tsp
Turmeric powder-1 tsp
Chilly Powder-3 tsp
Coriander powder-2 tsp
Pepper powder-1 tsp
Garam masala powder-1 tsp
Required salt
Oil-4 tbsp
Onion-1/2 thinly sliced
Curry leaves
Green Chillies-5

In a bowl,take the cleaned prawns.To that add ginger garlic paste,turmeric powder,chilly powder,coriander powder,garam masala,pepper powder and required salt and marinate for at least 30 minutes.

In a pan,add the marinated prawns.Cover and cook the prawns  without adding water.The prawns will cook in its own water.Cook until all moisture evaporates completely.

In a pan,add oil ,curry leaves and green chillies and sauté for a minute
Add sliced onions and sauté until translucent
Add the prawns and stir to mix everything well for a few minutes until done.

Condense Milk Chiffon Cake

It's been a while since the last time I made a cake. So it's time to make sure that I've still been able to make such a thing!! Even though it's not perfect but at least it passed my testers's standard !

The recipe could be found here . ( I adapted the recipe by using chiffon cake pan which is the reason why I call it '"chiffon cake" instead of cotton cake as the original recipe )  

Mexican Ranch Chicken Salad

My husband has been on diet and I, as a personal chef, have to do my best to help him reach the goal! And this salad came from my google search which turned out to be a great dish and really pleased my hubby !

The recipe could be found here.

Kenyan Corn & Bean Salad

I've fallen in love with fews of Kenyan dishes when we went there for our Safari trip early this year..so when we got back to HK, I googled and got few more Kenyan interesting recipes including this one!

The original recipe is to make a stew but I decided to change it into salad form, so I slightly modified the recipe to make my own version ! Served it as my hubby's healthy lunch and he gave me nothing but great feedback !!

The recipe :

1 Tbsp of vegetable oil
1/2 large onion, chopped
3 clove of garlic, minced
2 tsp of curry powder
A large bunch of fresh kale, chopped
1 big tomatoes, sliced
2 cobs corn, husked
1 cup of cooked beans, any type, drained and rinsed
A sprinkle or two of salt and lots of freshly ground pepper

1. Cut the corn kernels from the cobs and set aside. Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot and sauté the onions and garlic over medium heat until they are lightly cooked, about 3 minutes or so. Add the curry powder andcook for another minute or so.

2. Add the kale and reduce the heat to low. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon until the kale softens, about 10 minutes or so. Add the tomatoes, corn and beans and simmer another 10 minutes or so. Season to your taste with salt and pepper then serve