Wednesday 8 June 2011

Morning Tidbits










Goood morning! Make your breakfast fancy by making this cute and delicious tidbits. We had plain crackers topped with fanciful fruits jams and seafood spread with cheese mini sandwiches. Don't forget to add some fruits on top of your crackers to add some delightful taste (and healthier too!). A cup of peppermint tea completes this set of breakfast. Bon appetit! :)

Fancy paper flowers by Vanilla Floral Studio

Sunday 15 May 2011

Sunday Brunch Warm Salad With Fried Egg + Sangria Cooler

 
 
 

It is really hot these days, everyone just prefer to chill at home than to have any outdoor activities. So for that, we have something for you to try for Sunday or Saturday brunch. It's a very healthy dish and the sangria drink is perfect to cool you down on this hot season. Sangria is originally a wine punch from Spain or Portugal and famous during summer. Sangria is normally made with red wine, fresh, seasonal fruit and a bit of bubbly water or citrus flavored soda. But this one is a non-alcoholic Sangria, so we just replace it with dark grape juice. :)

Oh ya, do you know those flowers you see in the picture are edible flowers? We managed to find these within the salad shelves at the supermarket, so we think they are perfect for garnishing. You should try it too, just mix it with your favourite salads! :)

{Warm Spinach Salad with Fried Egg and Potatoes}

  •   4 tablespoons olive oil 
  •   2 baking potatoes (about 1 pound total), scrubbed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • Coarse salt, ground pepper + garlic powder + paprika
  • 1 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 shallot, minced
  • 1 bunches flat-leaf spinach (2 pounds total), thick stems removed, leaves washed well and roughly torn
  • 1 ounces Parmesan, shaved with a vegetable peeler
  •  1 large eggs
      
     Directions
  1. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium. Add potatoes and shallot; season with salt and pepper, a bit of garlic powder and paprika. Cook, tossing occasionally, until potatoes are tender and browned, 12 to 14 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine remaining 2 tablespoons oil with vinegar, mustard, and season with salt and pepper, and whisk to combine. Add spinach and Parmesan (do not toss); set aside.
  3. When potatoes are done cooking, immediately transfer to bowl with spinach and dressing (reserve skillet). Toss salad until spinach is slightly wilted and serve.
  4. Heat skillet over medium, and gently crack eggs into skillet without breaking yolks; season with salt and pepper. Cook until whites are almost set, about 1 minute. Cover, turn off heat, and let stand until whites are just set but yolks are still soft, about 2 minutes more. Top the salad with a fried egg, and serve immediately.

 {Non-Alcoholic Sangria Cooler}

  • 4 cups dark-grape juice
  • 1 cup orange juice
  • 1 cup soda water
  • 1 pear
  • 1 apple
  • 1 orange

Consider using juice from red grapes, pink grapefruit juice, orange juice and some lime juice. Cut thin slices of fresh orange and lime. This non-alcoholic drink can be enhanced by actually using table grapes as part of the mix.


Tuesday 10 May 2011

Mixed Beans On Toast + Hot Choc







If you don't want to spend more than and hour to make breakfast, this recipe is just perfect. This dish is so easy and quick to put together. It originates from Winnsboro, a small town in Texas, USA.


Mixed Beans On Toast

Ingredients
Butter 30g
Onion 1, medium, peeled and minced
Garlic 1, clove, peeled and crushed
Green Capsicum 1, cored, seeded and finely chopped
Canned Red Kidney Beans 400g, drained
Baked Beans 400g
Tomato Ketchup 4 Tbsp
Worcestershire Sauce 1 Tbsp
Salt 1/2 Tsp
Ground Black Pepper 1 Tsp
Chilli Powder 2 Tsp
Cheddar Cheese 175g
Hot Buttered Toast

*Melt butter in a medium frying pan over moderate heat. Fry onion, garlic and capsicum, stirring occasionally, for 5-7 minutes or until onion is soft and translucent but not brown.

*Stir in kidney beans, baked beans with can juices, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper and chilli powder. Cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes.

*Stir in Cheddar cheese and cook, stirring for 3 minutes or until cheese has melted and mixture is hot and thick.

*Remove pan from heat. Transfer to a serving dish and serve with hot buttered toast.


Bon appétit!



Tuesday 3 May 2011

Lopes and Popiah






A bit of traditional and classic touch this time, we choose two traditional dishes for breakfast; kuih lopes and popiah. Hot tea is always the best companion with this kuihs.

Popiah is fresh spring roll common in Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia. The filling is mainly finely grated and steamed or stir-fried turnip, jicama (known locally as bangkuang), which has been cooked with a combination of other ingredients such as bean sprouts, French beans, and lettuce leaves, depending on the individual vendor, along with grated carrots, slices of Chinese sausage, thinly sliced fried tofu, chopped peanuts or peanut powder, fried shallots, and shredded omelette.

Kuih lopes is a Malay glutinous pudding desserts coated with fresh coconut flakes and served with palm-sugar syrup.

*Popiah and kuih lopes from Ella Popiah, Bangunan Larut Matang, Taiping.
Breakfast location : Taiping Lake Garden 


Monday 25 April 2011

Choc Chippy Bread Pudding + Easy Chicken Wrap






{1} Choc Chippy Bread Pudding

Ingredients :
1 (one) loaf of bread (small pieces)
1 cup of butter
3 eggs
4 cups of milk
1 1/2 or 2 cups of brown sugar
1 cup of choc chip

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and mix it well. Pour into a baking pan.
Bake for 1 hour at 350°F (175 °C)  

Bread pudding is so easy to make and you can basically experiment with other ingredients as well. Fruit jam, Nutella, butterscotch chips and many more! 



{2} Easy Chicken Wrap

Ingredients :

Filling:
2 chicken keels (sliced)
1 medium onion (chopped)
2 cloves of garlic (chopped)
Salsa

Tortilla bread
Lettuce
Tomato (sliced)
Onion (sliced)


Sauce
5 tablespoons of Mayonnaise
3 tablespoons Chili Sauce

**

In a frying pan, stir fry the chicken keels with chopped onion, garlic and pinch of sugar and salt. Add a dash of salsa.
Set aside.

Mix the mayonnaise and chili sauce together.

Spread mayonnaise & chili sauce mixture to the tortilla bread. Layer with lettuce, tomato, and chicken filling. Wrap the tortilla and serve.

You can make this less than 30 minutes. Easy peasy!

Enjoy!





Monday 18 April 2011

Warm Potato Salad + Breakfast Snacks + Hot Lemon Tea










{1} Warm Potato Salad

Few potatoes, diced and boiled until a bit soft.
Mix the potatoes in a bowl with chopped onions, celery, 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise, few drops of mustard, a bit of fresh milk, and a teaspoon of butter. Sprinkle mustard seeds, salt and pepper to taste. Done! :)

{2} Breakfast Snack

You just need Japanese rice crackers as base. Spread some cheese cream, and put prawns and some veggies on top. We chose capsicum and red chillies cuts. Well, you can actually put anything on top of crackers even the potato salad. Yummy!

* Thanks to FH for the lovely potato salad recipe.

** Paper flowers by Vanilla Floral Studio


Sunday 10 April 2011

Bananarama Milkshake + Breakfast Potato & Sausage Casserole.








{1} Bananarama Milkshake

1 litre of cold milk
7 bananas peeled and sliced
6 spoons of honey

Blend the milk, bananas and honey together. 
Tadaa!  There you have it, delicious banana milkshake for breakfast!



{2} Breakfast Sausage & Potato Casserole

4 cups of sausages
4 cups of potatoes 
4 cups of cheddar cheese
2 medium chopped onions 
5 cloves of chopped garlic
3 eggs
1 cup of milk
A pinch of salt & sugar

Boil the potatoes until soft. Drain and set aside.

Saute the onions, garlics, salt and sugar in butter until soft. 
Add in the sliced sausages and stir until they are all cooked.
  
Mix the eggs & milk in a bowl. 

*

Layer the potatoes, sausages and cheese in a casserole dish.
(It can be more than a layer each depending on the size of the dish, make sure the last layer ends with cheese)

Pour the eggs & milk mixture.

Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 40-50 minutes.

Saturday 2 April 2011

Pancakeschmancy












If you want fancy schmancy breakfast, go for pancakes. They are so versatile; you can choose your toppings and sauce to go with. Our choices of toppings are grapes, peaches and blueberries. Chocolate sauce dressing is the best to pair with these fruits.