Baked broccoli and cauliflower pillows

my confinement period is over and now it's back to stay fit and healthy to shed those extra pounds (arrghhhh) ...

i'm starting with low impact cardio workout (20-30 minutes before baby screams for milk) and trying to eat clean and having fun cooking eat clean recipes at the same time trying to cut out unnecessary calories craving... eat healthy without compromising the nutrients that my baby needs in her breast milk..

so..i tried this quick and easy, delicious snack yesterday...

1 cup broccoli
1 cup cauliflower
2 eggs
1/4 cup onion, diced
1/3 cup cheddar cheese, grated
2/3 cup breadcrumbs
2 tbsp dried mixed herbs
1 tbsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

• preheat oven to 200 degree celcius. grease a baking pan with a thin layer of oil
• blanch the broccoli and cauliflower in boiling hot water for about 1 min then remove and immersed in cold water to stop the cooking process
• chop the vegetables finely or pulse in the food processor for a few seconds to get the "rice" texture
• combine with eggs, onion, cheddar, breadcrumbs and seasoning. mix well
• scoop with your hands to make a firm ball and shape into a tater-tot shape
• place on the baking pan and bake for 20 min or until brown and crispy, turning over halfway
• remove from oven, enjoy hot with your favourite sauce

my verdict...easy, quick and tasty...

Lasagne

The trick of having a good lasagne is a creamy bechamel sauce...i'm suck at doing that...this time round too by the Masterchef came to the rescue... haha... to make it quick, i used readymade pasta sauce to make the filling and prepared it earlier..

Lasagne sheets (ready to cook)
1 jar readymade pasta sauce (i used prego)
minced meat
fresh white/swiss mushroom, sliced
carrot, chopped
celery stick, chopped
onion, chopped
garlic, chopped
fresh oregano, chopped
olive oil
salt and pepper

cheddar, parmesan and mozzarella cheese, grated

for bechamel sauce:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
2 1/4cups milk
salt and pepper
grated nutmeg

• Prepare the filling. Heat oil in pan. fry the onion and garlic till fragrant. Add in minced meat and fry until brown.
• Add in carrot, mushroom and celery and fry till soft. 
• pour in the pasta sauce, mix well. add in the oregano, season with salt and pepper.
• set aside
• Prepare the bechamel sauce. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add flour. Whisk to combine.
• Add milk, continue to whisk until mixture comes to boil. add nutmeg, season with salt and pepper. reduce heat to low and simmer. stir frequently until mixture thickens.
• now assemble your lasagne: filling, lasagne sheet, bechamel sauce, grated cheese. repeat until 3 layers.
• bake in preheated oven 180 degrees celcius for 40 min until cheese bubbling hot and turns golden.

Minestrone soup

out of idea what to cook for the family...? this one-dish meal saved our day... we love soup very much and i ditched in some vegetables (whatever available) and pasta to complete it... adapted from Jamie Oliver's ...

1 tablespoon olive oil 
minced chicken
1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped 
1 red onion, peeled and finely chopped 
2 carrots, washed and chopped 
2 sticks celery, chopped
½ teaspoon dried oregano
1 bay leaf 
1 can chopped plum tomatoes 
1 large potato, scrubbed and diced 
4 cups chicken stock
Large handful spinach, stalks removed, chopped
½ cup mixed small pasta shapes 
1/8 teaspoon sea salt 
large pinch freshly ground black pepper 

• Heat a large pot over a medium heat and add a lug of olive oil. Throw in the minced chicken and fry it gently until it starts to turn brown and smell fantastic. Add the garlic, onion, carrots, celery, oregano and bay leaf and cook slowly for about 15 minutes, stirring now and then, until the vegetables have softened.
• Add the tomatoes, potato and chicken stock, then cover with a lid and bring everything slowly to the boil. Simmer for about 30 minutes, then check (with the tip of a paring knife) that the potato is soft and cooked through.
• After that, add the kale and pasta, and cook for 10 more minutes, until the pasta is cooked. If the soup is too thick for you after cooking the pasta, thin it with a little more broth or water.
• Finish by seasoning with a little salt and black pepper.

I did not mix the pasta in the soup, rather boiled it separately..

Seafood Olio Aglio

i love the garlic taste and smell in olio aglio...lots of garlic, and i mean you need lots of garlic to make this... ;)

here's the recipe (modified from noobcook.com)... (i used half packet of spaghetti to get this amount of serving)

• half packet of pasta (250g)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 40g butter divided
• 50g achovies fillet in olive oil or you can use 1/2 achovies cube (kiub ikan bilis)
• 10 to 12 large prawns shells off and deveined
• 10 cloves garlic peeled and sliced or roughly chopped (not too finely)
• 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
• a bunch of Italian flat-leaf parsley finely chopped
•  salt to taste
• freshly cracked black pepper to taste
*** you can add squid as well with the prawns and i added some strips of sun-dried tomatoes as well.. yummy!!

1. Bring a pot of water with 1 tbsp sea salt to a boil.  Cook pasta according until al dente(usually 2-3 mins minus recommended cooking time for spaghetti). Drain and set aside the pasta, reserving some of the pasta water.
2. Heat half the butter in a sauce pan. Cook the prawns on both sides and set aside.
3. Add olive oil to the sauce pan with the achovies fillet/cube. When the oil is heated, add garlic and chilli. Saute until the garlic turns light brown.
4. Turn off the stove. The garlic will continue cooking in the hot oil on its own for a few more seconds in the hot oil, until they turn a lovely golden brown.
5. Add cooked pasta, cooked prawns, about 2 tbsp reserved pasta water, chopped parsley and remaining butter (cubed) to the garlic & oil mixture. Stir to coat all the ingredients evenly. Season with sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

Swedish meatballs

tastes like ikea's meatballs..have been ages since i had ikea's meatballs..the last time was almost 2 years ago when i was heavily pregnant with iyad...now i can make my own ikea's meatballs... yeay!

2 slices of white bread, crusts removed, torn
1/4 cup milk
1 onion, grated
500g mince beef
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp plain flour
2 cups beef stock

1/4 cup thickened cream

• place bread in large bowl. add milk. stand for 5 min. 
• add onion, mince beef, egg, spices
• season with salt and pepper. mix to combine
• roll level tablespoons of mixture into balls. place on to a plate
• heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. cook meatballs, turning, for 4-5 min or until browned or cooked through. using a slotted spoon, transfer to plate
• add flour to pan. cook, stirring for 1 min or until bubbling.
• gradually stir in stock and cream. bring to boil
• return meatballs to pan. reduce heat to medium. simmer for 10 min or until meatballs are cooked through and sauce thickened
• serve with crusted bread or as in ikea - with fries and cranberry sauce

Italian meatballs

we love spaghetti and meatballs... i made them in advanced and store them in freezer, take them out to thaw then cook it... can't find the photo of the dish though...will put it up once i cook this dish again..

2 slices of white bread, crusts removed, torn
1/2 cup milk
1 onion, grated
500g mince beef
1/3 cup finely chopped basil leaves
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/3 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp olive oil
500g jar tomato pasta sauce
cooked pasta to serve

• place bread in large bowl. add milk. stand for 5 min. 
• add onion, mince beef, egg, basil, cheese and half of parsley
• season with salt and pepper. mix to combine
• roll level tablespoons of mixture into balls. place on to a plate
• heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. cook meatballs, turning, for 5-7 min or until browned or cooked through
• add pasta sauce. bring to boil. reduce heat to medium and let simmer for 2-3 min.
• sprinkle with remaining parsley. serve with pasta

Marbled Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies

heavenly chocolate and cheesy mix.. love it!

chocolate mix:
175g butter plus extra for greasing
3 tbsp cocoa powder
200g caster sugar
2 eggs, beaten
125g plain flour

cheesecake mix:
250g ricotta cheese
40g caster sugar
1 egg, beaten

• preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius. grease and line a 11x7 inch or 10x10 inch tin
• melt the butter in a medium saucepan, remove from heat and stir in the cocoa and sugar.
• beat in the eggs, then add the flur and stir to mix evenly. pour into prepared tin
• for the cheesecake mix, beat together the ricotta, sugar and egg. then drop teaspoonfuls of the mixture over the chocolate mixture. use a palette knife to swirl the 2 mixtures together lightly
• bake in the oven for 40-45 min until just firm to touch.
• cool in the tin then cut into squares

Mocchachino Brownies

Am i making a comeback..? haha... i'm baking this special brownies for a special friendand yes my hands itch to bake...

this is a simple and yummy brownies to make..loaded with chocolates with a tinge of coffee..i love it so much...

this recipe is for 2 tray of 9x9 inch so if you only need 1 tray, half the recipe... but you will regret for halving the recipe..haha..

250g butter
230g dark chocolate
2 tbsp coffee
6 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups caster sugar
2 cups flour
1 cup chocolate chip
1 cup walnuts, roasted and chopped

• heat oven 180 degrees celcius. line the baking pan with butter and baking paper
• heat butter, dark chocolate and coffee on medium heat in a saucepan until just melted. remove from heat and let cool slightly
• add in eggs and sugar to the mixture. then fold in the flour, chocolate chip and walnuts. mix well.
• transfer the mixture into the baking pan.
• bake for about 35-40 min until spring to touch and toothpick comes clean
• let cool before cutting into squares

cheesy sauteed mushroom with eggs

simple dish that can satisfy your hungry tummy

200g fresh white/brown button mushroom, sliced

1/2 green/red/yellow capsicum, thinly sliced

5 eggs

1/2 onion, sliced

2 garlics, sliced

3 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

generous amount of parmesan/cheddar cheese

• heat butter and olive oil in pan, on medium heat
• saute onion and garlic till fragrant and translucent
• add in capsicum and saute
• add in mushroom, saute and season with salt and pepper
• make 5 holes on the mushrooms bed and break the eggs into it
• sprinkle lotsa cheese on top
• once the eggs are done and cheese melted turn off heat
• serve hot
• can be eaten on its own or with crusty bread

Croissant bread butter pudding

making bread butter pudding using croissant instead of normal bread will make your pudding turn into an extraordinary one... really love the buttery, velvety feeling and taste..

5 large croissant, cut open

soft butter

generous amount of chocolate chips

4 eggs

1/2 cup caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla

3 cup milk

• preheat oven 180 degrees


• spread bread with butter. layer the bread into ovenproof dish


• sprinkle with chocolate chips


• whisk the eggs with sugar and vanilla


• add milk and whisk to combine. gently pour over bread.


• set aside for 10-20 minutes


• bake for about 1 hour or until custard has set and top is golden

• serve with vanilla custard sauce

chicken, mushroom, potato and spinach quiche

my sister , ezani made this for one of the magazine photoshoot...basically, you can just put anything you like as its filling...i just copy and paste this recipe from her blog, zestbyezani..

photo also from zestbyezani

i've made quiche before but using potato as it base...you can try it too here, tuna and cheese quiche..

Pastry ingredients:

2 cups flour

170g cold butter, cubed

Pinch of salt

5-8 tablespoons ice water

Filling ingredients:

6 pieces button mushroom / swiss brown, thickly sliced

1 brown/red onion, chopped

2 pieces of chicken breast, cubed

1 bunch spinach, roughly chopped

2 potatoes, peeled, cubed and boiled until soft

3 eggs

¾ cup sour cream or cooking cream

¾ cup fresh milk/ full cream UHT milk

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Salt and black pepper to taste

Method:

1. Prepare the pastry. Mix flour with salt in mixing bowl. By using a butter knife, cut the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs (or just blend in the food processor)

2. Add a spoonful of ice water at a  time and mix with a fork until mixture comes together to form dough. Knead dough slightly and wrap with cling wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, prepare the filling. In a hot pan, fry the sliced   mushrooms with a little oil while tossing for a few minutes until brown. Remove from pan.

4. In the same pan, sauté the onion until soft, add chicken and cook the chicken until done. Throw in the spinach and cook until spinach is wilted. Add salt and pepper to taste. Leave filling to cool while rolling out the pastry.

5. Preheat oven to 220 degrees C . Prepare a 12 inch tart tin / quiche pan or a few smaller tins.

6. Remove the pastry from the refrigerator. Sprinkle work surface with some flour and on the pastry pastry as well. Roll pastry to 3-5mm thickness using a rolling pin. Transfer onto the tart tin/ quiche pan and trim the edges.

7. Whisk together eggs, sour cream (or cream), milk, salt and pepper.

8. Arrange the filling ingredients (mushrooms, chicken and spinach, potatoes) into the pastry. Sprinkle with cheese. Pour egg and cream mixture to cover the filling.

9. Bake in 220 degrees C for 20 minutes, then lower to 170 degrees C for 40 minutes or until quiche is cooked and brown.

10. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before removing from the tin/pan.

*Note: For the pastry, only add as much ice water as needed until the mixture forms a dough that is not too wet and not too dry. Just nice.
For the filling, feel free to use any ingredients that you desire. For example you can use tuna, smoked salmon, different kinds of cheeses, different kinds of vegetables. It’s all up to you!
For making tarts and quiches, I love using a removable based tart tin as it will be easy to remove the quiche from the pan when it is ready.

sorry peeps, i have not been updating the blog since God-Knows-When...

but today i want to share something special with all of you...

Malaysia's very own 1st Masterchef is my sister! yeay for her (and for me)...!

you don't believe me..? her full name is Ezani Farhana Md Monoto and mine Ezura Madiana Md Monoto...we stay in the same house and i used to rumble (and still doing it) into her stuffs and belongings and we still fight with each other...

get to know her better

Facebook: Ezani (Masterchef Malaysia)

twitter: @ezanimonoto

website: www.zestbyezani.com

thank you for supporting her!

sister's fight!

Spanish potato salad

i simply love potato salad...another simple version from sour cream package..easy to make...

1 kg potato
250 ml sour cream
2 tsp paprika
1/2 yellow capsicum, diced
1/2 red capsicum, diced
bacon rashers (i used crab meat slices)
1 tbsp oil
2 celery sticks, sliced

• boil potato until just tender, drain and set aside, keeping warm
• in a pan, heat oil. add in bacon rashers (or crab meat) and capsicum, cook till soft.
• add in paprika
• add in the sour cream to the mixture
• add the potato and let the creamy mixture coat the potato
• remove from heat
• finally, stir in the celery
• if you prefer cold potato salad, refrigerate before serving

onion soup with cheese croutes

lovely, aromatic, comforting soup...adapted from Sophie Conran's Soups and Stews and Onions by Brian Glover...

100g butter

6 onions peeled and sliced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp rosemary and thyme

1.5 litres beef stock

salt and black pepper to taste

1/2 baguette cut into 2 cm slices

2 cloves garlic, peeled

mozarella/parmesan/cheddar cheese

• melt butter in a large pan, add the onions and stew for 20 min until soft. turn up the heat and add the garlic, stirring for 2 min
• add in the sugar and herbs. reduce the heat and simmer for 45min-1 hour, stirring occasionally until the onions are nice and caramelized.
• bring the stock to boil in another pan, gradually pour into the onions. season with salt and pepper. simmer for another 10-20 min
• meanwhile preheat the oven to 150 degree celcius. place the slices of bread on a greased baking tray and bake for 15 min. rub the bread with the cut surface of garlic, then sprinkle with cheese over the slices.
• float the coutes on the soup the grill until the cheese melts.
• serve immediately

fettucine pesto primavera

this recipe was taken from Chef Wan's Simply Sedap 2....it is amazingly delicious..astray from the regular tomato or cheesy creamy pasta...

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, sliced

1/2 red capsicum, seeded and sliced

2 celery sticks, chopped

2 tbsp ready-made pesto sauce

400g fettucine, cooked until al dente

4 tbsp chicken stock

salt and blackpepper to taste

grated parmesan cheese to taste

• heat olive oil in pan. add garlic, capsicum, celery and fry for 1 min
• mix in the pesto sauce
• add cooked fettucine and toss until well-mixed. add the stock. toss a few more times and season to taste
• dish out and sprinkle parmesan cheese on top and serve