20111224 Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

This holiday season was a mellow one for me. I just put my feet up and enjoyed the company. I only cooked something simple on Christmas Eve night - stuffed portobello mushrooms as starter, roasted new potatoes as side dish, grilled rib eyes as main course, and some fruit yoghurt as dessert. I was even too lazy to find a recipe for the stuffed portobellow mushroom, and simply made one up myself. To be very honest, it was definitely not a WOW dish, but was a good and simple starter for sure.

INGREDIENTS
2 large portobello mushrooms
vegetable oil
1 cup grated cheese
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/3 fresh parsley, roughly chopped (leave some for garnishing)
1/4 cup drained oil-packed sun dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
salt and freshly grounded black pepper

METHOD
1. Heat the oven grill to high. In a small bowl, mix the cheese, breadcrumbs, parsley, and tomatoes together. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. Spray a small oven dish with vegetable oil. Lay the mushrooms gill side down in the dish, and grill for about 4 minutes.
3. Turn the mushrooms and stuff them with the cheese filling. Return to the oven and grill for another 5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Sprinkle with some roughly chopped parsley and serve.

20111217 Banana Bread

I just can't ask for a nicer breakfast for a lazy Saturday morning. I am listening to Diana Krall's Christmas Songs and enjoying these warm slices of heaven, while my husband is sleeping in and snoring away. I just can't praise this recipe enough, as it takes only 15 minutes to prepare and less than an hour to bake. I am making banana bread almost twice a month, and we are never tired of it!

20111215 Cauliflower Casserole

I wanted to cook loads of comfort food because of the winter weather. I wanted meatloaf, chilli, sloppy joe, beef stew...But on the other hand, I wanted to cook something healthy before stuffing our face with food during the holiday seasons. Because of this dilemma, I have been struggling to find cooking inspirations. So I made this casserole tonight - the tomato-y meat sauce and cheese topping satisfied (some of) my crave for comfort food, and the cauliflower and carrot helped to make the dish (a bit) healthier.


INGREDIENTS
300g potatoes, cut into large chunks
1 small cauliflower, cut into florets
1 carrot, shredded (leave about 1 tbsp of carrots for garnish)
1 small onion, finely diced
300g lean minced beef
1 tbsp dried basil
1 tbsp tomato puree
250g canned tomato blocks
100ml vegetable stock
75g grated cheese
salt and freshly grounded black pepper

METHOD
1. Heat the oven to 175 degree C.
2. Cook the potatoes in boiling water for about 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.
3. Cook the cauliflower in boiling water for about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
4. In a large pan, brown the beef in 1 tbsp of olive oil. Add the onion and carrots, and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the basil, tomato puree, tomato blocks, and vegetable stock. Bring to the boil, and simmer for about 15 minutes with a lid on. Remove from heat and set aside.
5. In a large casserole dish, throw in the potatoes and cauliflower. Cover with the meat sauce and grated cheese. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven. Garnish with some shredded carrots and serve.

20111211 Banana Muffins with Poppy Seeds

In an attempt to make healthier muffins, I used bit less butter here. To make sure the muffins are moist, I used more bananas and yoghurt. The result was...erm, not that good. They still tasted alright and moist, but they were very pale. I could have left them in the oven for longer until they were golden brown, but I was afraid they would be overbaked and became all dry. It is tricky to alternate baking recipe!

INGREDIENTS
250g self raising flour
125g packed white sugar
2 tbsp poppy seeds
50g butter, melted
1 1/2 ripe banana
2 eggs
5 tbsp yoghurt

METHOD
1. Heat the oven to 200 degree C. Mix together the flour, sugar, and poppy seed in a medium bowl. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, mash the bananas. Mix in the melted butter, yoghurt, and eggs.
3. Add the banana mixture into the dry ingredients. Mix well with a fork, then divide them into the muffin tins.
4. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes.