A Quick And Easy Dish–Tuna Kiwi Salad

INTRODUCTION

Today is Saturday and I have done my marketing earlier in the morning when my kids are sleeping and the crowds in the supermarket were lesser. I have just completed my marketing, cleaned my seafood and put back to the fridge and is time to issue my post today.

Some of my close friends were asking me why am I having  a daily post.. Frankly speaking, I am tired of taking pictures, cooked, taking pictures again, compile, blog and publish. I do not have any worries about of what I am going to blog about as I have to cook at least one meal a day and there are many household recipes that I can blog. However, it is my intention to build up my readership number and my recipe database within a year.. That explained the reasons of my daily posting and  I will alternate between household savoury dishes and pastry items..I am sorry to take up your time to hear an old “grumbling”……

Putting that aside, today I am going to share a very simple salad recipe that I have prepared yesterday. It should be one of the healthiest cuisines that I have blogged about as the fats involved is minimal and the ingredients are packed with proteins, vitamins and minerals. This is my own creation and I do not have recipe for you to refer. It is really a refreshing alternative after a few post of meat dishes such as Dongpo Meat and Chinese Barbecue Pork.

I have named this salad as “TUNA KIWI SALAD” though the major ingredients were tomatoes. I will also share a number of presentations that you can consider how to serve this delicious salad.

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WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: About 6-8 persons

As it is a salad, therefore, I am rather reluctant to give an exact quantity. The quantity and types of ingredients are for reference only.

Must haves

• 3-4 large tomatoes

• 1 small canned tuna (either in oil, with brine or with mayonnaise)

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil (if canned tuna is in brine is used)

• 2 kiwi fruits de-skinned and cut into small cubes.

• Pinches of salt

• Some shredded cheddar cheeses

Optional and substitutable

• Pinches of black pepper

• Some chopped coriander leaves or basil or Italian herbs preferred

• 2 boiled eggs – cut into small pieces

• Some pine nuts (not in picture)

• Some cherry tomatoes (not in picture)

• Some Chinese lettuces

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STEPS OF PREPARATION

• Cut the tomatoes into half. Use a spoon to take away the centre. Chop the centre into small pieces. You can either keep the seeds or throw away the seeds depending on how moist is your overall salad. However, it is advisable to throw away the seeds and juices but keep the centre. This illustration included the seeds and hence the salad was a bit moist.

• Cut the kiwi, boiled eggs, tomatoes and tuna into small pieces or chunks.

• Put all in a big mixing bowl. Add either chopped coriander leaves or dry Italian herbs, black pepper, pinches of salt and shredded cheddar cheeses. Stir until well mixed. Note: You have to be careful about the addition of pinches of salt.

If your tuna is soaked in brine when you purchased it, there is no need to add salt but you may need to add in olive oil. If your tuna is soaked in oil when you purchased it, there is no need to add olive oil but you have to add it pinches of salt. If you prefer, you can add in some lemon juices.

• Scoop out the salad in the tomato cups or fresh lettuce leaves. Dust with additional cheeses or black pepper if desired.

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CONCLUSION

Personally, I liked this tuna salad very much. It is very healthy and easy to prepare. Try and see if you like the salad or not.

Hope you like the post today and cheers.

 For more recipes, you can refer to my RECIPE INDEX here and you can follow me at PINTEREST or visit this blog’s Facebook Page.

Vegetarian Pizza Is Just As Tasty ! Simple And Basic Vegetarian Pizza Preparation

INTRODUCTION

I loved pizza. Pizza is one of the most common food that I ordered when I have meals in Western Restaurants. I love pizza for its dough and cheese. It is a comfort food that I can easily eat an 6 inches diameter pizza. However. I have never really ever prepare pizza since I start my baking 15 years ago. I am thinking that since I have made bread, cakes, muffins cupcakes etc., why don’t I make my own pizza?

In my Facebook group : Food Bloggers and Foodies United, one of the bloggers Ms Ainy Wajahat from Pakistan have posted some pizza recipes and I promised here that I will bake some pizza. Therefore, I have based on her recipes to make the dough. For the toppings, since I am still on the vegetarian diet, I have used mostly vegetables found in my fridge.

Initially, I intended to make my own pasta sauce. Somehow, as I am too tired that afternoon, I rushed to a provision store nearby and bought a can of ready made pasta sauce. You can read the making of Pasta Sauce from fresh tomatoes HERE.

Instead of preparing it  in the traditional round shape pizza, I have opted to make a rectangular shape pizza which is easier for me to bake and cut for later serving. I made the dough in the morning and intended to have the pizza for lunch, somehow, the family members decided to go out for lunch, therefore, I froze my dough in the fridge and only made the pizza during dinner time.

Making pizza is really simple and at times, I just wonder why shall I pay so much for pizzas that were sold in the eating outlets.

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WHAT IS REQUIRED

Dough – Recipe adapted from Ainy Cooks

• 500 grams plain flour

• 30 grams butter (at room temperature) or olive oil or ghee or normal cooking oil

• 300 ml of water

• 1 egg

• 1 teaspoon of salt

• 1 tablespoon of instant yeast

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Toppings

• Some Enoki mushrooms (cut into half)

• Some fresh mutton mushrooms (shredded)

• Some fresh sweet corns

• Some green capsicums (shredded)

• Some sausages (for my kids portion)

• 1 tin of pasta sauce about –about 500 grams

• Abundant of mozzarella cheeses or cheddar cheeses or goat cheese or other cheeses of your choice. 

The ingredients here are for reference only. You can add a whole range of your preferred vegetable such as tomatoes, pineapples, preserved olives, celeries and etc..

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STEPS OF PREPARATION

• In a big mixing bowl, place all materials except butter/ghee/cooking oil/olive oil and use a dough hook to mix until well mix. Add in butter and continue to beat until the dough is smooth. Let it proof for at least 1 hour or until the dough size double. Use a cling wrap or a wet towel to cover the top.

• Lightly grease a baking tin and pre-heat your oven to 200 degree Celsius.

• Punch your dough in the centre to let the air escape. Lightly knead and use a roller pin to roll into  a flat piece resembling the shape of the baking tin. It will be about 0.5-1 cm thick for the dough to cover all the tin area. Make it as even as possible.

• Use a fork to lightly make some holes on top of the dough. As this is a big piece of pizza, this is to let the air to have some holes to escape.

• Spread some pasta sauce on top of the dough

• Fill the top with your choice of vegetables  and meats, if desired. sprinkle some Italian herbs mix such as basil, oregano etc..

• Sprinkle sparingly with mozzarella cheese or other cheeses with your choice.

I have make half of the pizza as vegetarian and another half into ham and sausage pizzas for my kids.

• Bake your pizza in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the bases are cooked and cheeses have melt.

 

• Cur into your desired size and shape and best serve hot with your choice of additional sauces such as Tabasco sauces, mayonnaise or just plain.

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CONCLUSION

This was one of my very first basic vegetarian pizza that I have made  with great success. The post was very short because it deals with basic pizza preparation. More variations will come and Guaishushu will tailor the taste to the very Asian taste such as curry and etc.. However, that shall have to wait after Guaishushu finishes his vegetarian diet.

Hope you like the post today and have a nice day. Cheers.

One Number Baking Ratio Adventure (6)– Peanut Butter Chocolate Chips Muffins

UPDATED POST ON OCTOBER 1 2014

As I have some peanut butter sitting in my fridge for ages, I have decided to prepare some Peanut Butter muffins . There are no changes to recipe except :

• Use peanut butter weight as a starting point which is about 156 grams and all my ingredients used to be about 156 grams for eggs, flour, sugar .
• Did not add the caramelized chocolate chips

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ORIGINAL POSTS

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My kids made these muffins with my help. I just helped them to get some ingredients that they did not where it was stored.

I did not even look at the measurements that they took as I was busy of taking pictures of their participation. Why this was possible of course was because of the easy recipe. The recipe that followed the one number baking ratios now extending to muffins. There were many post that uses one number baking ratios in my baking and in the post “ dates fruit cakes” , you can see all my references of cakes made using one number baking ratio in that post.

After my kids revised their home work today, they were bored and I thought I might as well asked them to make the muffins since it was really easy to  prepare. In fact they were so happy when I told them that I need their participation after revising their home work. My girl who liked to procrastinate suddenly finished her homework very quickly. Initially, it was not my plan to get the boy involved, however, when the boy saw her sister enjoyed herself measuring the ingredients, he insisted that he wanted to join in ‘the game” also. I therefore concurred to let him joined in the “game”

I did not look at any recipe for this muffin. The principle of using one number baking ratio is that it should be applicable for all cakes.  As I want it to be a bit dense, I have opted not to cream the butter and egg separation method (using these two methods will definitely end up to be a cup cake). In addition, as I have been quite tiring of washing all the utensils these few days, I chose not to use an mechanical egg beater. At the end, I have used a mixed and baked method to prepare the muffins.

In addition, I have substituted butter with peanut butter and most important of all, I have used eggs as the starting weight of making these muffins. This will save sometime for the calculation of milk.

These muffins started with 2 eggs that weighed 117 g, therefore, that follows will be peanut butter 117g, sugar 117g, flour 117g and milk 117 g. With these measurements, I am sure any body without much baking experience will be able to prepare this. Easy to remember ratio with easy preparation methods.

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WHAT IS REQUIRED

• 2 whole eggs

• Peanut Butter – same weight as eggs – melted and set aside

• Sugar – Same weight as eggs

• Milk – same weight as eggs

• Self raising flours – same weight as eggs

• Caramelized  chocolate chips – half the weight of eggs

• Mozzarella cheeses – half the weight of eggs  (optional)

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STEPS OF PREPARATION

• Pre heat oven to 180 degree Celsius

• Get ready5-6 muffin cups.

• Melt the peanut butter in a microwave oven for 1 minute.

• Transfer to a big mixing bowl, add eggs and sugar and use a hand whisk to whisk until combined.

• Add in sifted flour and milks (alternately) until all flours and milk are added.

• Add in caramelized chocolate chips and mozzarella cheeses.

• Mix well and transfer to the muffin cups.

• Bake at 180 degree Celsius for 20-25 minutes or when a skewer inserted comes out clean.

You may have noted that I have sprinkled additional cheeses and caramelized chocolate chips. However, that was not advisable because this batter is rather wet, the additional weighs will push down the muffins causing it to drip sideway. Therefore, I will advise readers to by pass this step. Just to let you have a look, this is the “elephant muffins” made by my kids. All the 5 muffins we made have these “elephant trunks” due to the addition of chocolate chips and mozzarella cheeses. Ha-ha.

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CONCLUSION

Is it not this muffin is so easy to prepare especially with one number baking ratio. If my kids can made this, who else could possibly not able to prepare this?

Hope you try it and have a nice day! Cheers.

 

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What? Baked Your Rice? Yes, Try Carbonara Cheesy Bacon Baked Rice

INTRODUCTION

The main staple food for Asians are rice. We have porridges, fried rice, plain white rice, steamed rice, braised rice ….. But we seldom have baked rice.

Bake is usually associated with oven which is rather uncommon to Asians until the last 5 decades (pardon me if I am wrong)….Baking rice is still something not really common especially in Malaysian and Singaporean Chinese household cooking. One could easily have baked rice especially in Portuguese restaurants particularly in Malacca, Malaysia and Macau SAR in Peoples Republic of China.

Is baked rice nice? If you are a generation who get use to Western cuisines, I presumed you will concur with me that it is another good way of appreciating cooked rice! Children who are exposed to Western numerous fast food chains such as Kentucky, McDonalds, Pizza Huts etc. will definitely like this simple comfort food that is packed with milks and cheeses.

Creamy, cheesy and soft are the words to describe the textures of this baked rice.

Of course there are many different types of baked rice, as an Asian, I will definitely prepare using ingredients that are well liked by the kids here.

This post is  about CARBONARA CHEESY BACON BAKED RICE. It is prepared using Carbonara sauce with lots of bacons, kernel corns, canned button mushrooms and etc.… In addition, sensing not many households may have a conventional oven, this recipe called for a mini oven that is movable .. Of course you can used an oven if you wish to!

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WHAT IS REQUIRED

• 500 grams of cooked rice (overnight rice is acceptable)
• 50 grams of bacon – small pieces
• 100 grams of onion– chopped
• 100 grams of canned button mushrooms – slices
• 100 grams of canned creamy sweet corns
• 30 grams of Japanese “crab meat” (optional)
• 200 ml of cream + fresh milk (preferred 50% cream : 50% fresh milk)
• 150 grams of mozzarella cheeses
• 2 teaspoons of dried/fresh herbs (basil, dill, oregano etc.) (Optional)
• 1 cup of water
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil/butter

Note:

This is a good way to get rid of your overnight rice. Of course you can cook with fresh rice for the dish.

This is a dish with full flexibility, except rice, cream+milk and cheeses, almost other ingredients can be substituted.

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STEPS OF PREPARATION

• Get ready an 8”x8” inches baking tin or any casserole that are able to withstand high heat.

• Put the rice in a big mixing bowl and set aside for later use.

• In a sauce pan, put in the olive oil and bacon and stir fry until the bacon were fully fried and the aroma of bacon starts to emit.

• Add in the chopped onion, stir fried until the onion is soft.

• Add in 1 cup of water, add in chopped mushrooms, creamy sweet corns and bring to boil under medium heat.

• Once boiled, add in the cream and herbs and off the heat. Stir and mixed well.

• Pour on top of the rice and use spoon to mix well.

• Transfer the well mixed rice to the baking tin. Add in more milk if possible.

• Place in more creamy sweet corns or other side ingredients such as crab sticks if desired.

• Sprinkled sparingly with mozzarella cheeses and more herbs.

• Bake the rice in the mini oven for about 30 minutes or until all the cheeses have become soft and melted. It should be noted all ingredients are cooked ingredients. Therefore, baking the rice is only to ensure that all the cheeses have melted and  speed up the process of sauces absorbed by the rice.

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VARIATIONS

Of course, if you want to cut short the preparation process, you can used the ready made carbonara sauces or cream of mushroom soup or cream of chicken soup. The end results will be equally tasty.

You can also substituted with fresh corns, baby corns, even Asian fish cake if your kids like it and anything that will wake up your families palates!

 

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CONCLUSION

An easy to make comfort food good when you runs out of time to cook a decent meal. It’s full flexibility make it easy to tailor your family taste buds. Try this way to get rid of your overnight rice.

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day ahead.

I am submitting this to Welcome To All My Bloggy Friends and Recipe of the Week.