Jacket Potato Recipe

It takes forever to bake jacket potatoes but they are definitely worth it. The crispy skin yet soft and dense potato with melted cheese, butter and mayonnaise. Purely sinful-- can be an awesome and filling iftar dish.

So we used petite potatoes and Butterfly Air Fryer to half the cooking time. Remember to place them in the round basket so they can roll around to ensure even cooking.

Ingredients

A pack of petite potatoes

5 tbsp butter

50g cheddar, grated

4 crispy turkey slices, pan fried then thinly sliced

2 king oyster mushroom, pan fried then thinly sliced

Heat air fryer to 200C (Roast and roll function) and bake the potatoes in the round basket for 15mins.

Then turn to  Bake (180 C)  for  45mins until  the skin is crisp and the flesh soft.

Cut a cross on top of each potato, squeeze the sides, add butter, cheese and your favourite topping. 

Serve immediately!

Have it with crackling air fried 'roasted' tandoori chicken thigh for a heavenly combination.

KitKat Banana Cheesecake Recipe

Hey, it's my birthday! I always think birthday is about the celebration of my mother's love and upbringing. Thanks Mom. So we ought to indulge (with some caution)-- there we go with my healthier version of Kit Kat Banana Cheesecake.

Ingredients

FOR THE BASE

50 g butter

160 g belVita banana and oat cookies, finely crushed

15-20 Kit Kat milk chocolate bars

FOR THE TOPPING

4 medium ripe bananas

4 tbsp peanut butter

250 g cream cheese

200 g plain yogurt

2 large eggs

200 ml double cream

Melt the butter in a pan and stir in the oatcakes and crackers until well coated. Press into the base of the tin to make a firm layer, top with Kit Kat Bars. Chill for 30mins.

Place slices of cut bananas onto the base.

 

Heat oven to 220C fan and lightly oil a non-stick loose-based square glass cake casserole.

To make the topping, mash the bananas in a large bowl, then beat in the peanut butter,  cream cheese, yogurt, eggs and double cream until well mixed. 

Pour onto the biscuit base and bake for 10 mins, then turn the oven right down to 90C fan and cook for 25 mins more. Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake inside to cool. 

It's normal for the mixture to turn brownish as the banana oxidizes.

When cold, arrange Kit Kat Bars on top of the cake then chill for 3-4 hrs. (Cooling the cheesecake this way should prevent it from cracking.) The cake can also be frozen and served like ice cream cake! Yumz.

Dust cocoa powder on top before serving if desired.

Enjoy! 

Cheap Homemade Yoghurt Recipe

I love culturing my own yoghurt because it's pure without additives and sugar. But using Easiyo sachets can be fairly costly as 1L of yoghurt started is priced at RM25 each. 

I finally came upon this yoghurt starter from Lazada! It's shipped all the way from China so it took around 2-3 weeks to arrive in mail. But it's worth it!

Each pack contained 10 small sachets. 1 small sachet can be made into 1L of yoghurt! They have to be stored in freezer to prolong shelf life and thawed to room temperature for about 15-20 minutes before use. Since the starter sachets are  small, they didn't occupy much fridge space. They are best used within1 year after the manufacturing date.

Instead of using milk powder, I changed to UHT full cream milk which is a lot more convenient. Otherwise the instructions were as per my previous post.

This batch of yoghurt is definitely not as sour but it's also less thick. But it's better tolerated by my family.

Top with some freshly cut fruits and nuts for a wholesome breakfast or dessert!

Cheese baked corn tuna pasta recipe

This comfort food is one of my boys' favorite! It's extremely easy to cook. We always involve our children in cooking. Not only is this fun and educational, it also allows the children to spend some time bonding with us, learn how to do housework, as well as appreciate how food is prepared.

Ingredients

1 can 160g Ayam Brand Tuna Mayonnaise

300g dry penne/spiral/macaroni pasta

1 onion, chopped

1can of Ayam Brand corn kernels 

1/2 cup Lady's Choice mayonnaise

1/2 cup Emborg shredded cheddar

1 cup Emborg mozarella cheese

2 tablespoons Emborg butter

1cup milk

1cup Emborg cooking cream

10g Tao Kae Noi original crispy seaweed- cut into strips

Salt to taste

Serves 6

Preheat oven to 180degrees C.

In a large pot with boiling salted water cook pasta until al dente. Drain.

Take off heat, add tuna mayonnaise and set aside.

To make the sauce, in a medium saucepan melt the butter or margarine over low heat. Saute the chopped onion, and minced garlic.  Gradually add milk, cream and cheddar cheese. Continue stirring until thickened. 

Combine cooked pasta, sauce and tuna mayonnaise. Pour into a glass casserole dish. 

Add the cup of grated Mozzarella cheese to top the mixture.

Add TKN seaweed strips on top.

Bake uncovered in preheated oven until cheese on top is melted and brown, about 20 minutes. Serve warm.

Enjoy!

Healthy Bubur Cha Cha Recipe

The classic Bubur Cha Cha calls for the lovely trio- yam, orange sweet potato and purple sweet potato dessert- with heaps of sugar and lots of coconut milk.

But our version is much healthier and simpler. Still we were able to enjoy the delicious and nutritious root vegetables.

Ingredients

 100 grams Purple Sweet Potato

 150 grams Orange Sweet Potato

100grams Yam, Taro

 100 grams Sago, Tapioca pearls

Evaporated milk

4-6 Screwpine leaves

Melted Gula Kabung- to taste (can be omitted)

Peel and cut all vegetables into small cubes.

Instead of steaming them separately in the classic manner, I just chucked all of them in enough water to cover the cubes work the screwpine leaves then boil them over medium heat for 5-10 minutes until they just cooked.

In another pot of boiling water, cook tapioca pearls until they are at least half cooked. By that time, the water will be fairly starchy. Strain the pearls then exchange with a fresh pot of boiling water. About half an hour is needed to cook the pearls.

Assemble the dessert.

Enjoy it with an equal amount of evaporated milk with or without Gula Kabung! Gula Kabung is sugar made from palm trees which gives the dessert a distinct fragrance besides sweetness. Sinfully sweet but worth the try!

You can also add some tapioca balls. The recipe and tips to cook tapioca pearls/sago can be also found in my previous post here.

Lazy Keto Banana Bread Recipe

We just can't get enough of the goodness of organic bananas grown by our cousins living in the village area. We are very blessed to have a generous amount of fresh fruits and vegetables delivered by my in laws on and off, enough to last a month.

Besides banana milk shakes, one of the must try recipes call for some low carb, low GI, lazy keto banana bread.

500g Loaf  (8 slices)

Ingredients

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 4 large bananas)

1 large egg

50ml water 

1 1/2 cups bread flour (195g)

1/4 cup whole meal flour (30g)

1/4 cups coconut flour (30g)

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon butter or margarine

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon bread improver

2 teaspoons instant yeast (I use Mauripan)

1/3 cup chopped pecans, toasted (or raisins)

Place all ingredients in the listed order into the bread pan. 

Be very careful to separate the yeast from salt, sugar and liquid.

Bread in progress!

Set to wholemeal bread program, 500g loaf, light crust.

Wait for the bread machine to deliver a fresh loaf of banana bread!

Enjoy it with peanut butter, cream cheese or chocolate spread.

Tips: 

Leave the bread to cool on the rack at least to room temperature before cutting to avoid crumbling.

If you are adding coconut flour to a gluten-free flour blend or substituting it for flour in a regular recipe,  substitute coconut flour for up to 20% of that blend. The liquid and/or fat combination needs to be increased by about 20% (fat preserves the long term moisture of the final baked product). 

Coconut flour typically call for a lot of eggs. Every 1/4 cup (30.8g) coconut flour typically requires one egg for both moisture and structure.

When storing coconut flour, it’s best to keep it airtight and refrigerated since coconut flour absorbs moisture.

Lazy Keto Pan Mee Recipe

Pan Mee is definitely one of our cravings during MCO. It's a great comfort food so we made it lower carb, lower GI and lazy keto. It's equally tasty and more filling with higher protein content when coconut flour was added to the dough!

Ingredients

Dough

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cups coconut flour

 2 eggs

 1/4 cup water

Soup

1 cup dried anchovies, heads removed

 1/2 cups preserved turnip 大头菜

Chicken bones from 1/2 chicken

 8 cups water

Toppings

 1 cup dried anchovies, heads removed

 1 bunch Asian spinach

 1 clove garlic, finely minced

 4 oz ground pork

 4 dried shiitake mushrooms , soaked in water and stems removed, cut into strips

1 tbsp soy sauce

1tsp corn starch

1tsp water

Immerse preserved turnip in filtered water for 30mins then chopped coarsely.

Pan fry anchovies thoroughly and set aside.

Wash the chicken bones thoroughly and scald them with some hot boiling water. 

Cook the clear broth in Russel Taylors pressure cooker using the soup setting. Prepare at least 2 hours before meal time.

Do not add salt as the preserved turnips are fairly salty.

Prepare the dough by combining all the ingredients in Kenwood BM250 bread maker and turn on to preset 9- pasta dough. Cover with a damp cloth and rest for an hour.

Caramelized minced garlic, stir fry with chopped Shitake mushrooms, minced pork. 

Braise for about 5 minutes or so. Add the cornstarch and water mixture to thicken up the sauce. Dish out and set aside.

Prepare the remaining anchovies by frying with some oil. Make sure the anchovies are perfectly fried until golden brown in color and crispy. Set aside the fried anchovies.

Bring a pot of water to boil while you prepare the dough. 

For the peace of mind, I use a pasta machine to roll out the dough with the machine and cut to fettuccine shape. 

Cook the noodles in the boiling water until they float to the surface or completely cooked. Dish out using a colander.

Assemble the cooked noodles, soup and toppings.

Enjoy while hot!

Tips: 

If you have excess batter, you can refrigerate a ball of dough overnight in an airtight container to avoid drying.

If you are adding coconut flour to a gluten-free flour blend or substituting it for flour in a regular recipe,  substitute coconut flour for up to 20% of that blend. The liquid and/or fat combination needs to be increased by about 20% (fat preserves the long term moisture of the final baked product). 

Coconut flour typically call for a lot of eggs. Every 1/4 cup (30.8g) coconut flour typically requires one egg for both moisture and structure.

When storing coconut flour, it’s best to keep it airtight and refrigerated since coconut flour absorbs moisture.