Sunday, December 13, 2009

Step-by-Step Zebra Cake Guide

I promised my friend, SIG to show her the step-by-step pictures guide the next time I made the zebra cake, so here it is girl friend.


Two different colors batter.


First, put a dollop of white batter in the center of the pan.


Next, put a little dark batter on top of the white batter.


Then, you add another dollop of white batter on top of the dark batter.


Again, add another layer of dark batter on top. Just keep alternate different color of batter on top of each other until all batters are used.


I didn't do a great job on this as it was not center.


Example of how it would look like when baked and cut. Good Luck!

Recipe of this marbled banana chocolate cake can be found here.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Longevity Noodle Soup



Chinese loved to eat long noodle on their birthday because it signify long life, it is like a tradition especially for older people. We will have long noodle, red eggs and peach steamed buns for older people. Today, I made my noodle soup with ShanDong ramen (山东拉面). It is similar to the noodle that Taiwanese served on their beef noodle soup. This noodle is packaged dried in a rectangle box that you can get in the Asian store. Good in soup and stir-fry.




Ingredients:


ShanDong ramen, homemade chicken stock, tofu fish cake, fried fish balls, napa cabbage and mini sausages.

Method:


1. Prepare the homemade chicken stock with 1 chicken, 1 big yellow onion, small piece of smashed ginger, 2-3 stalks of scallions, 3 carrots (cut). Simmer for 2 hours. Season to taste with salt, sugar and chicken stock granules.


2. Cook noodle per package instruction. Set aside.


3. Sieve the chicken stock. Turn the heat to high, when boiling, add in napa cabbage, tofu fish cake, fried fish balls and mini sausages. Let it cook for a minute or two.


4. In a bowl, place in the noodle. Scoop the soup on top with ingredients to serve hot. Eat with chili padi (bird eye chili) for extra kick.




I'm sharing this noodle with Presto Pasta Nights, an event created by Ruth from Once Upon a Feast. This week host is Kevin, do go and check out Closet Cooking delicious round up on Dec, 11th! Thanks!



Monday, December 07, 2009

Mini Sausages with Special Sauce



This is the Asian sauce I created for the mini sausages. I used this sauce before for my Yong Tau Foo and it's a good mix too. This sauce is on the sweet side because I wanted it this way. Salty sausages with sticky sweet sauce as coating, sounds good right? This dish was well received by kids and adults.

Ingredients:


Mini sausages, sauce mixture= (3 Tbsp. hoisin sauce + 1 Tbsp. honey, mix well)


Method:

In a wok, add in a little oil. Stir-fry the mini sausages until hot. Add in the sauce mixture. Coat well and serve.



Saturday, December 05, 2009

Sweet Potatoes Porridge



Sweet potato is super cheap this time of the year. I saw it as low as 25 cent/lb at WalMart. I regretted I didn't buy some at this price to keep. Edda was not feeling well and I decided to cook her some porridge. Instead of the usual fish porridge, I tried the chicken and sweet potatoes porridge. I made the porridge quite watery and cut the sweet potato into tiny cubes for easy swallowing. But guess what? She didn't like it at all. I think she is not a fan of sweet potato cooked in this way. Anyway, you can substitute the sweet potato with pumpkin.

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

Roast Chicken with Garlic and Thymes



I tried a new chicken recipe for my Thanksgiving dinner. This recipe can be done last minute as it doesn't need to be marinated/seasoned before hand. This chicken was fragrant and tasted divine. You can eat the garlic together with the chicken or spread it on bread to enjoy. Remember to place the garlic close and underneath the chicken when baking or else it will be burned and turned rock hard. You can substitute the dried thyme with fresh thyme. Stuff a few inside and sprinkle some cut thyme on the skin.

Monday, November 30, 2009

Last Minute Thanksgiving Dinner


Baked Chicken with Garlic and Dried Thymes


Baked Sweet Potato Fries


Chinese Style Green Beans


Mini Sausages with Special Sauce

Serve with soft and fluffy buns and sparkling ciders (picture not taken). Truly a last minute dinner as we were having Dim Sum with some friends in Denver up until 2pm and rushed back to cook this. Nothing traditional as I didn't buy turkey again this year (just didn't want to deal with the big bird for days even though it was super cheap) and I cooked something that we all liked to eat. The mini sausages were of course for the kids with my special Asian sauce instead of BBQ sauce. Asian style green bean instead of green bean casserole and baked sweet potato fries instead of mashed potato with gravy. Recipes of each item will be shared in individual post later.