Eating In Archives - As Suanie Sees It

Recipe: Banana Muffins in Airfryer

May 7, 2015 By Suanie 5 Comments

Finally a baked goods recipe that I’m happy with!

There’s SOMETHING about baking that I could NEVER get right. I blame it on… well, non-hereditary non-talent. My mother and sister bake delicious treats; wait a minute, I didn’t inherit that bit!

Cooking is forgiving. Missed out an ingredient? Don’t worry, there’s always something else to make up for it. So easy to fake it like a pro, bro!

But baking! It’s like thermodynamics to someone who doesn’t know what thermodynamics means, yet uses it as an example in a baking-related context! The nerve of these plebeians…!

But yes, baking. There are strict rules and principles to follow, which do not bode well for a person who cannot follow instructions, i.e. me.

Still I tried and tried. Failure played in my mind like a lingering bad dream (and a boy named xxx). Obsessed? Me? Never! 😛

I just want to BE ABLE to bake SOMETHING that I would eat.

… and I finally did.

This Banana Muffin recipe contains 2 eggs, NO oil and NO butter. This results in an old-fashioned dense muffin, NOT light nor fluffy. Almost like a heavy quick bread type. Rich, filling, moist, slightly chewy and not too sweet. This recipe makes 12 large muffins.

Wet Mix
4 ripe bananas (Cavendish size)
2 eggs
90g brown sugar (100g for white sugar)
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 tbsp milk (can substitute with unsweetened applesauce)
1 spoonful Nutella (optional)

Dry Mix
250g flour (whole wheat or plain)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp cocoa powder (optional)

Optional
1 handful chopped walnuts
Chocolate sprinkles
Dried fruits

1) Mash ripe bananas in a bowl, then add the rest of “Wet Mix”. Combine well.

2) Sift “Dry Mix” then add to “Wet Mix”. Gently fold to combine, but do not stir vigorously.

3) Add in any optional chopped walnuts, dried fruits or chocolate sprinkles. Chocolate sprinkles should be in EVERYTHING.

4) If oven, pre-heat to 175°C. If airfryer, pre-heat to 120°C.

Pour in batter to muffin cups. Bake in oven for 20-25mins, and in air-fryer for 30mins, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the muffin comes out clean.

5) Get excited because you just made delicious muffins!

Yes I don’t make beautiful muffins, but they sure tasted great! Now that I successfully made this, I can retire my baking ambitions.

5 Comments Filed Under: Eating In, Recipes Tagged With: airfryer recipe, baked in airfryer

Recipe: Salted Vegetable and Tofu Soup

April 29, 2015 By Suanie 2 Comments

One of my favourite soups is also the easiest and fastest to cook. It takes just one hour and 6 ingredients to make a large pot of delicious Salted Vegetable and Tofu Soup.

The only hazard in making this soup is, uh… To cut a long, sad story short, I do not recommend slicing slippery salted vegetables with a sharp Zwilling knife when you’re in a hurry. Not if you like all your fingernails intact 😛

… that’s it. There are no other stories related to this Chinese pot of deliciousness. It’s bursting with simmered bone broth goodness, marked with a satisfying saltiness that pairs great with soft tofu.

Also, the ability to whip up such simple home-cooking makes you look like a kitchen goddess because it reminds people of family. True story.

AND being thought of as a goddess of any kind is one of the most absurd, yet strangely appealing feelings ever. You should try it once in a while.

So make this soup already!

… Wait wait, a few more notes to share:

… On the bones, use chicken if you can’t or don’t like pork.
… On salted vegetables, it’s pickled/salted mustard greens that looks like this *click*. Wet markets will have them, some hypermarkets may not carry them. There are many kinds of salted vegetables, remember it’s the “wet” one.
… On tofu, use firm or pressed tofu. Eat tofu, it’s good for you!
… On ginger: I buy a big one, slice it up and freeze the rest. I don’t use ginger all the time, and it is wasteful to buy when you only need a little.

Frozen ginger slices at my convenience!

Okay, NOW let’s get to it:

1) Blanch 300g pork/chicken bones in a pot of boiling water. This removes the scum.

2) Remove and transfer to another pot of water with a couple ginger slices. Let it come to a boil, then simmer for 30 – 40 minutes.

3) Use this time to slice up a packet of salted vegetables (cut it however you like to eat it), 2 tomatoes and a box of tofu. Personally I like everything bite-size. Watch out for your fingernails.

4) Put in salted vege and tomatoes to cook for 10 mins. If you want a saltier taste, this is when you put in a pickled plum. I find it unnecessary.

5) In the last 5 mins, put in tofu and let it simmer before serving. If you’re using prawns and/or meat slices, this is the time to put it in.

Ta-dah, a nice bowl of Chinese soup ready to be consumed, nom nom nom nom… Go on, make soup and let your domestic goddess shineeeeeeee!

(Ingredients and method all above. I’ll update again with Printable Recipe when the plugin decides to work again)

2 Comments Filed Under: Eating In, Recipes Tagged With: Chinese bone broth, chinese soup recipe, easy chinese soup, recipe tofu soup

Recipe: No-Cream Carbonara in 30 minutes

September 8, 2014 By Suanie 11 Comments

You know those link baiting headlines screaming “97 things you must know/cook/travel before you’re 20/30/dead”?

I hate them! They make me feel so bad about myself!!
(maybe ‘cos I’m so behind their unrealistic curve 🙁 )

But.. BUT! I can make a 4-ingredient no-cream pasta carbonara in less than 30mins! This!

And I’m telling you, SO CAN YOU! That’s how the Italians do it: eggs + cheese + bacon + black pepper. If you choose to drown in carbs, might as well go authentic!

For this recipe, I put garlic and onion for added fantasticness. I find the original 4-ingredient recipe boring (sorry, Italians); the extra bits kicked it to greater heights.

Ready? Let’s go! Full recipe at the end of the post.

First, cook the pasta. Boil some water, add some salt, then throw in enough pasta for 2. While it’s cooking, do all these:

I recently discovered the joy of chopping onions without bawling my eyes out as if my pet cat died. It took me a long time to find out that the sharper the knife, the less you cry. There must be a stream of logic that the smart people can explain to you.

Also if pork is off limits to you, substitute with fine quality beef bacon. Or Chinese ham. Or chicken ham (then add salt). The point is, something fatty and salty.

Heat up the oil in a pan. Cook bacon until slightly crispy, then add onion and garlic if you wanna.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain well then put into the pan, mix well with the bacon + onion + garlic.

Turn off the fire, carefully add the mixed egg + cheese + black pepper. Mix well, keep, turning it around, make sure the pasta is evenly coated.

Serve to self and appreciative partner/ friend. Add more black pepper if you like.

Then workout like hell ‘cos you just ate enough calories to feed [insert name of starving village here].

Enjois.

Recipe: No-Cream Carbonara in 30 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 2

Recipe: No-Cream Carbonara in 30 minutes

Ingredients

3 - 4 bacon, sliced thinly

1/2 onion, chopped

3 - 5 cloves garlic, chopped

2 eggs

50g Parmesan cheese, grated

Black pepper to taste

Olive oil for cooking

Pasta for 2, your preference

Instructions

Cook pasta according to instructions on packet.
While pasta is cooking, chop/ slice garlic, onion and bacon.
In a bowl, add eggs, cheese and black pepper. Whisk lightly, mix well.
Heat up oil in pan, cook bacon till nearly crispy, then add onion and garlic.
When pasta is cooked, drain well and add to pan. Mix well with bacon etc.
Turn off fire/ heat, remove from stove if necessary. Add egg mixture into pan. Coat pasta evenly, keep stirring and mix well.
Serve with black pepper, cheese, pride and happiness.

http://www.suanie.net/2014/09/recipe-no-cream-carbonara-in-30-minutes/

11 Comments Filed Under: Eating In, Recipes Tagged With: carbonara eggs cheese, creamless pasta recipe, italian recipe carbonara

Recipe: Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Sauce

March 3, 2014 By Suanie 7 Comments

I LOVE roasted red peppers. They are sweet, juicy, smoky and flavourful. I eat them in wraps or sandwiched between thick slices of bread (tip: add hummus), or as a side dish for non-Asian cooking, or on its own because they are just so good and I can’t stop myself!

I saw a recipe for roasted red pepper pasta sauce and gave it a shot. The original recipe called for 4 tablespoons of butter but no no, I nixed that. Nobody is allowed 4 tablespoons of butter in pasta sauce, nobody!

This is a good change from the usual tomato or cream-based pasta sauces. Let’s go!

Full list of ingredients at the bottom of this post.

I’ve long acquired the kungfu to roast peppers by myself. It’s cheaper and immensely satisfying than buying ready-roasted ones from the shops. Here’s how to roast peppers in your oven *click*. No oven? No problem! Here’s how to roast peppers on your gas stove *click*.

First you need the roasted peppers sliced into strips. Lightly toast your pine nuts; they burn easily so keep an eye on this one. It’s about 2 tbsp worth of pine nuts in the photo, you only need 1 tsp. Saute garlic and onion for a couple of minutes.

Can’t live without meat? Cook up some ground meat in butter, set aside. I use chorizo because it comes ready with salt and spices. Kinda defeats the healthy living part so skip this if you wanna.

Put the roasted red peppers, onion, garlic, pine nuts and sweet basil in the blender. Blend blend blend!

Nyam. Pour content back into pan (with meat if you have it) to cook. Add cream and butter. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Simmer for 5 minutes.

Serve with cooked pasta, your preferred cheese, bits of sweet basil and a whole lotta love.

If you’re not a pasta person, pour it over your meat or spread on your bread. I know that sounds dirty so make sure that you clean up after.

As this Malaysian would say, enjois!

Notes: This recipe’s sauce isn’t very clingy, if you know what I mean. To add richness and clingy-ness, add butter and/or use heavy cream instead of normal cooking cream. But it’s okay not to be so clingy, a major rule in life. If you want a nuttier taste, the max I recommend is 1.5 tsp pine nuts. Anything beyond that is too nutty for anyone’s liking, uewekkk… If you don’t have pine nuts, GO OUT AND BUY IT; store in your fridge for added awesomeness to your salads and pastas. Sweet basil isn’t the same as Thai basil.

Recipe: Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Sauce

Ingredients

4 roasted red bell peppers, sliced

1 onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tsp pine nuts, lightly toasted

150ml cream (cooking or heavy)

a bunch of sweet basil leaves

1 tbsp cooking oil

Salt + Pepper to taste

Optional:

1 tbsp butter

200g ground meat

Shaved parmesan or mozzarella

Instructions

Heat up oil in pan. Saute onions and garlic until soft.
Remove, cook meat in butter for a few minutes (optional).
Blend: roasted red peppers, pine nuts, onion, garlic, sweet basil leaves
Put blended content (and meat, if you have it) back in heated pan.
Add cream and butter, simmer for 5 minutes.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with cooked pasta or meat, your preferred cheese, sweet basil leaves and George Clooney.

http://www.suanie.net/2014/03/recipe-roasted-red-pepper-pasta-sauce/

7 Comments Filed Under: Eating In, Recipes Tagged With: bell pepper sauce, easy pasta sauce, pasta recipe, red pepper sauce, vegetable pasta sauce

Basic stock recipe: Ikan Bilis (dried anchovies) stock

February 24, 2014 By Suanie 16 Comments

The humble ikan bilis (dried anchovies) soup is something that ties me close to home. It’s the most simple, basic of all soup stocks and remarkably easy to make. We use it for just about any soupy meals. Think fish ball soup, rice vermicelli (bihun) soup, mee hun kueh (known in KL as pan mee, mit), steamboat, spinach and preserved egg soup …

It’s probably the first thing you should learn how to make after you moved out from your parents’ house.

If you have need for ikan bilis stock, you should really make it from scratch. It takes only 40 minutes and the best part is, you know exactly what goes into it.

The good thing about making your own stock is that you can make a huge batch, then keep it in the fridge over the next few days. If you’re planning on further use, freeze it and use within 3 months.

This recipe makes about 2.2 litres worth of ikan bilis stock.

What kind of ikan bilis should you get? Not the expensive types please, those are for eating. The ‘Grade B’ type should suffice, but be sure to remove the head and insides, else the soup will be too bitter.

Wash the ikan bilis under running water, twice. Drain and set aside.

Take 3 garlic cloves, remove skin and give it a slight squash with your chopper. Use 2 slices of ginger – but if you’re using Bentong ginger (really strong), maybe 1 slice should be enough. If you like your soup slightly spicier (more ginger-ish), use 3. But no more than that as the ginger taste will be overwhelming!

In a pot, pour in 2.5 litres water. Bring to a boil, then add ikan bilis, ginger and garlic. Let it simmer on medium-low fire for 30 mins.

When it’s ready, remove everything in the stock, save for the stock (har har). Remove any impurities with a sieve.

You now have ikan bilis stock, wahey! Rejoice, world!
p/s: Thanks Mom for the recipe! <3

What to do with ikan bilis/dried anchovies stock

# Add noodles/ rice vermicelli + fish balls + leafy greens = meal.
# Use it as your steamboat/hotpot soup base.
# Add spinach + sliced century egg + Chinese wolfberries = soup.
# Add fish ball + leafy greens + thin carrot strips = fish ball soup.
# Use it as base soup for mee hun kueh
# Cook porridge in it = brings your porridge to the next level.

Endless possibilities 🙂

16 Comments Filed Under: Eating In, Recipes Tagged With: anchovies stock, basic soup stock recipe, chinese fish stock, how to make easy soup stock, ikan bilis soup stock

How to roast peppers in the oven

May 12, 2013 By Suanie 7 Comments

Roasted peppers are versatile for just about any recipes that need a dash of awesomeness. If you’re roasting one or two bell peppers for a quick fix, it’s easy enough to do it on a gas stove.

If you’re looking to roast a bunch at once, the oven’s the best way to go.

1) Preheat your oven to 180°C (160°C with fan) for 10 mins using the ‘grill’ or ‘top heat’ setting.
2) Clean the peppers: wash and dry, slice into half, remove stems and seeds.
3) Line a roasting pan with aluminum foil. Lay the peppers, top up.
4) Put into oven for 30 minutes. In the meantime, go dance around the house.
5) If you like your pepper skins to be blacker (sweeter), add 5-10 mins to it. Otherwise they’re good to be removed from the oven.
6) Remove the peppers from pan and into a ziplock bag.

7) Zip the bag, let the peppers steam inside for about 10-15 mins.
8) Then it’s time to remove the juicy suckers, ready for some skin peeling!

By this time, it’s quite easy to peel off the entire skin from the flesh. Just be careful as it’s still hot and might burn your fingers. But bear with it, it will be slippery but DO NOT wash it with water as it will ruin the sweet, juicy flavours. And waste all your effort not to mention electricity for the oven.

When you’re done, slice them up, let them cool then store in fridge! Unless you’re planning to use them immediately…

.. like sandwiched in tortilla wrap with hummus, tuna meat and fresh lettuce.

Sometimes life doesn’t get any better than that 🙂

7 Comments Filed Under: Eating In Tagged With: easy way to roast pepper, roast bell peppers, roast capsicums, roast peppers

Make your own 5-minute chocolate Nutella mug cake!

January 13, 2013 By Suanie 26 Comments

Tough day? Tough week? Tough decade? Need instant pick-me-up sans implied sleaziness? Need something you could make with your own hands to provide a sense of accomplishment without tearing down the kitchen? Need self-gratification in form of gluttony decadence?

You need a 5-minute chocolate Nutella mug cake. With just 5 minutes and some basic ingredients, you could potentially save yourself from total embarrassment or ruin because… well how many emotionally-distraught people can think straight?

Cake will save them. And you.

Every household should have Nutella at all times

You need:

– 1 egg
– 1 tbsp sugar
– 1 tbsp cocoa powder
– 3 tbsp oil
– 2 tbsp Nutella
– 3 tbsp flour
– 3 tbsp milk
– 1/4 tsp baking powder
– a slight pinch of salt
– 2 drops of vanilla essence (optional)

Mix everything together in a nice big mug. Mix hard and well. That means everything must be a nice smooth liquid, no lumpy bits to be found. This takes me a couple minutes because I stir the s- out of the mix.