Baked Beans 2 Ways Recipe

Baked beans is something Mr husband grew to dislike. But I love the mushy beans in tomato sauce. So I wanted to transform them into a pan with more complex texture and flavours. I think I managed to convince him to like the dish. There are a few ways to serve this dish. Read on to find out!

Ingredients

6 pieces Figo chicken slices

2 chicken sausages cut into small pieces

100mls extra virgin olive oil

1 brown onion, sliced

4 cloves of garlic, crushed

2 tsp dried mixed Italian herbs

80mls red wine vinegar 

2 medium tomatoes diced

1 can 425g Yeo's baked beans in tomato sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

2 free range eggs, room temperature

50gms cream cheese, crumbled

2 bird's eye chilli to garnish

Serves 4

Cut chicken slices into small squares.

Caramelize garlic and onions. Set aside.

In a grill pan add chicken slices and sausage with a splash of oil. Fry over a medium heat until crisp. 

Stir in onion and half of the garlic. Add a splash more oil. Add herbs. Fry until onions are brown. 

Add vinegar, tomatoes and baked beans. 

For a non alcoholic version, add 40ml white vinegar with 40ml grape juice instead.

Simmer to thicken for 6 minutes. Season.

Make small holes in the bean mixture using a mould. 

Gently crack in an egg, top with cream cheese.

Simmer until eggs are slightly set but still runny.

There are two ways to serve this delicious baked beans:

1. 

4  Massimo Primo Bread Rolls to dip in the sauce with or without  butter

2.

Pacific West Fish & Chips (2 Servings)

Air fry frozen fish& chips at 200C for 7 mins.

Remove chips.

Flip over and air fry the fish only for 4 mins until golden and crispy.

They are very appetizing indeed. Yums!

Healthy Air Fried Popiah with Kewpie Mayonnaise Dip Recipe

I have a thing for Popiah aka spring rolls. Popiah Sira and deep fried Popiah are My favorites. But deep frying and the sweet chilli sauce actually contains a lot of hidden calories and sugar. So we have made an air fried version which is equally crispy. Dipped in Kewpie mayonnaise which is so eggylicious. Kewpie Mayonnaise aka Japanese Mayonnaise is only made of egg yolks instead of whole eggs in conventional mayo. It doesn't contain artificial colouring, flavouring, high fructose corn syrup or preservatives. So it's much healthier but taste even better than many of its counterparts.

INGREDIENTS

1 small jicama (about 1 lb/450g)

1 large carrot

8 oz pork or chicken breasts (225g) + 1 tbsp soy sauce + ¼ tsp ground pepper + 1tbsp sesame oil+ 2tbsp corn starch+ 2tbsp dried shrimps

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 onion (peeled and thinly sliced)

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp ground pepper

1 packet spring roll wrappers (25 pieces)

Kewpie Mayonnaise sauce for serving

Peel jicama and grate into fine strips using food processor. Do the same for carrots.

Next grind meat and dried shrimps using the food processor. 

Combine ground meat, soy sauce, sesame oil and  ground pepper in a bowl. Mix well.

In a wok or large pan, heat vegetable oil. Add seasoned ground pork. Cook for 3 minutes. Add onion. Cook for another 2 minutes.

Add grated jicama and carrots. Stir and mix.

Add salt and pepper and continue to cook for about 5 minutes. 

Place a sheet of spring roll wrapper on a clean work surface.

Place 2 tbsp of filling on the wrapper.

Fold the pointed end over the filling.

Then fold in both the right and left sides of the wrapper.

Moisten the remaining edges of the wrapper with a little water. Roll and seal.

Layer the air fryer pan with 2 tbsp of vegetable oil.

Drizzle 1 tbsp of oil on top of the popiah.

Air Fry at 200C for 8mins. Flip and air fry for 2 more mins until golden brown.

Serves warm with Kewpie Mayonnaise!

Salted egg yolk custard bun recipe

We are huge fans of salted eggs, especially custard lava buns. The crazily rich lava leaves a lasting aftertaste. They are actually quite easy to make. Salted eggs are just preserved duck eggs packed in salted charcoal paste. You would think that salted egg can be quite unhealthy. Interestingly, with the exclusion of the high salt content, salted eggs are actually more nutritionally dense than fresh duck eggs. This is the research paper looking at the nutritional value of salted eggs.

Instead of baking our own buns, we are going to use Massimo Primo Bun Sandwich for a quick fix!

Ingredients
6 salted egg yolks
50g caster sugar
50g custard powder
55g full cream milk powder
60g fresh milk
15g corn starch
110g butter, room temperature
6 Massimo Primo Bun Sandwich

For 6 buns

Wash the dirt off salted eggs. Until it reveals the white egg shells.

Crack the eggs. Strain the egg white and keep refrigerated for other uses.

Steam the egg yolks for 8-10 minutes or until cooked. Mash them up.

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter slightly and mix in the ingredients.

Freeze the mixture until solid for at least 4 hours.

They can still be cut lengthwise into 6 strips.

Place slices of the frozen custard in the middle of the buns.

Add enough water to a pot, about 1 inch in depth. Cover the pot and bring to boil.

If a flat lid is used to cover the steamer, wrap the lid in a kitchen towel to prevent condensed steam from dripping on the buns.

Cover and steam on medium-high heat for 2 to 3 minutes.

Enjoy while warm!

You can have them on their own as teatime or pair them with other dimsums.

One Pan Roast Chicken in Oyster Sauce Recipe

Oyster Sauce is a very versatile seasoning that I think everyone should have in the kitchen. It magically transforms homecooked dishes into restaurant standards. It's made of caramelized cooked oyster juice thickened with corn starch, seasoned with salt, sugar and soy sauce. I love Lee Kum Kee oyster sauce because they use premium quality oysters. It contains MSG which is actually quite safe. Read more about MSG here.

Ingredients

3 quarter chicken thighs
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon Bentong ginger powder
2 carrots sliced
1 brown onions sliced
1/2 jicama sliced
4 tablespoons Shaoxing wine (can substitute other rice wine, or dry sherry)
4 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons LKK oyster sauce

Rinse the chicken thighs and pat thoroughly dry with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper.

Coat air fryer with sunflower oil .

Set air fryer to 230C for 10mins.

Add the chicken to the pan, skin-side up.

Add jicama, onions and carrots beneath the chicken thighs to avoid the vegetables from being burnt.

Thoroughly combine the Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, and oyster sauce in a bowl, and pour it over the chicken and vegetables.

Air fry at 200C for 20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.

Flip around and air fry for 10 minutes.

Serve this one-pan Chicken Roast right out of the oven over white rice with some cut chillies.

Healthy Pumpkin Purple Sweet Potato Ondeh Ondeh Recipe

It's so much fun making dessert using vegetables like pumpkin and sweet potatoes because they are naturally sweet and give attractive colours to the food. We didn't need to put any sugar at all which makes it healthier for all- low GI and low carb especially for people with diabetes mellitus. We train our children to omit added sugar if possible to avoid dental caries as well. Additionally, this is definitely a way to sneak in veges and make my children eat the rainbow!

Ingredients

120g pumpkin
120g purple sweet potatoes
170g glutinous rice flour
Gula Kabung (optional)
Pandan essence (optional)

Steam 120g pumpkin & 120g purple sweet potatoes.

Steam 25g dessicated coconut with a pinch of salt.

Peel and mash pumpkin & add in Glutinous Rice Flour and Pandan Essence.

Knead until it comes a soft dough which doesn't stick to the hands and the colour becomes uniformed.

Mash sweet potatoes.

Make pumpkin dough balls, then flatten with palm.

Place the sweet potato fillings in the center of the dough ball and enclose, pinching the dough together and roll gently back into a ball shape.

Coat the balls with dessicated coconut.

If desired, small pieces of Gula Kabung can be wrapped inside the dough.

Steam it for 10minutes.

Done!

Bitter Gourd Indian Curry Recipe

This is a classic Indian vegetarian dish. But we have tweaked the recipe to suit the Malaysian taste buds. And of course add in chicken as our all-time favorite meat. Bitter gourd is definitely a healthy vegetable, especially for those with diabetes mellitus. It's nutritious and can help to prevent blood sugar level hikes after meal.

The star ingredient here is my Honey Hub Tualang Honey with curcumin which is bursting in antioxidant content. It's supposed to be drank directly. But we are not big fans of the tardy taste and texture. So it's become my marinate instead. 

 Ingredients

1 bitter gourd

1/2 cauliflower

2 tomatoes, sliced

2 tsp salt

1 brown onion

Sunflower oil

1 tbsp Garam Masala

1 tbsp curry powder

500g chicken chunks 

1/2 cup M&S coconut milk/evaporated milk

4 tbsp Honey Hub honey with curcumin

Method

Marinate chicken in Honey Hub and 1 tsp salt for at least 30mins.

Halve bitter gourd lengthwise and cut into 2-3mm thick slices.

Immerse bitter gourd slices in water, just enough to cover with 1 tsp salt for 30mins. Then lightly squeeze , wash and strain to remove bitterness. 

Cut cauliflower into florets. Blanch in boiling water for 5 minutes until cooked. Strain and set aside.

Sautee bitter gourd until slightly brown. Set aside.

Slice brown onion then sautee in wok until caramelized.

Add garam masala and curry powder. Fry until fragrant.

Caramelize chicken. 

Add coconut milk.

Add bitter gourd, cauliflower, tomatoes. Simmer 10-15minutes over low heat.

Serve with Basmathi rice or chapatti!

Lazy Keto Apple Banana Crumble Recipe

Instead of using my old hand held mixer, I'm loving the food processor. Especially when i have to mash frozen bananas and mix butter. I didn't have to defrost/ melt them before hand. 

Baking healthy cakes is an addiction that I even have to do it on my birthday! Because my parents are diabetics and I'm very much high risk. So we have to go low GI and low carb.

For the Apple Filling

2 golden delicious Apples

4 large bananas (mashed)

200g all purpose flour

50g coconut flour

2 eggs

1/2 cup canola oil

1 tsp salt

2 tsp baking soda

2tbsp honey

1/4cup milk

For the Crumble Topping

40g all purpose flour

100g pumpkin seeds

2tbsp Erythritol

1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon

2 tbsp Unsalted Butter

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 150 C fan.

Mix all the ingredients for the filling except the apples into the food processor. Use the plastic blade and mix for 2-3 minutes.

Slice apples. Throw the cores.I kept the peel on for extra crunch.

Pour the batter into a square glass casserole.

Arrange sliced apples on top.

Place all the ingredients for the topping into the food processor. Use the steel blade and crumb for 1min.

Sprinkle the crumbs over the top of the apple, pressing it down very lightly to make it even.

Bake in the pre-heated oven for 60-80mins at 150degrees C until it's golden on top, the crumble topping is coming away from the edges of the dish and a skewer inserted into the center comes clean.

Enjoy while warm!