Easy Desserts: Son of a Peach

What do you do when you've got some digestive biscuits and a tin of peaches at home? Get some vanilla ice cream and make the world's easiest dessert!

Ingredients

• 2-3 pieces of digestive biscuits
• 12-15 slices of tinned peaches
• 2-3 scoops of vanilla ice cream

Delicious on their own... fantastic together!

Take the digestive biscuits and put them in a zip loc bag. Burp the bag and zip loc it tight. You can either smash it a la Jamie Oliver (wrap them in a tea towel and smash them against the kitchen counter) or just use the back of a ramekin/small bowl to smush it.

This is what you should see in the end. Try to get it as fine as you can but hey, if you like chunky bits then stop halfway :)

Pour the powdered digestive biscuits into the ramekins. If you don't have these, little glasses would do too...

Add on a generous layer of vanilla ice cream on top. Don't fill it all the way to the top though - you need to leave space for the peaches!

Stick these back into the freezer so that the ice cream gets to firm up properly.

Take them out when you're just about to serve....

... and layer on the slices of tinned peaches... add on as much as you like!

There's only space for one layer for peaches here though :P

Tadaa!!! A super easy dessert :)

Happy "cooking"!

xxx

Bunny

The weekend snacks: Pan-fried dory fillets

The pup is a bit of a picky eater and doesn't really like fish too much and this is one of the few fish dishes that he actually likes... pan-fried bread crumbed dory fillets :) The best thing about this dish is that it goes really well with a lot of different side dishes. We usually serve them with mash (chips are great too but I just get a bit lazy to fry them) and a fresh garden salad.

Plus it's really really easy to make... here, I'll show you!

Ingredients

• 2-3 Dory fillets
• 1 cup of all purpose flour
• 2 eggs (beat with some salt and pepper)
• 1 cup of bread crumbs (you can get this easily from the bakery at any supermarket)
• olive oil (for frying)

My frying pan isn't that big so I usually cut the fillets up into about 2" wide. At this size, they're easier to coat and flip on the frying pan too.

Remove the excess water from the dory fillets with some kitchen towel. Gently press down to squeeze the liquid out. Set aside. Repeat until all fillets are "dry".

Then crack two eggs in a bowl, sprinkle in some salt and pepper to season it and beat well.

Place the cup of all purpose flour and breadcrumbs into plates and set aside. Here comes the fun part! :)

To start, coat the fillet in the flour first. Careful though, flour flies away super easily and you'll end up in a flour-y mess so don't get too excited here.

Coat the entire fillet with flour and shake off the excess...

... then place the flour coated fillet into the bowl of seasoned egg and cover completely. Remove...

... and place it onto the plate of breadcrumbs and cover it with as much breadcrumbs as you can.

You can do all of this in advanced and set them aside before pan frying.

Heat up some olive oil (you can use regular cooking oil too) in a frying pan on medium heat. When the oil is hot enough, place the bread crumbed fillets on to it and fry for about 2-3 minutes (depending on how thick the slices are).

When the fillets turn golden brown, flip it over and cook for another 2 minutes or so. By this time, you can start preheating the oven at 120C/248F. Line a tray with tin foil and set aside.

When the fillets are nicely brown on both sides, place them onto the tray and place them in the oven to keep warm. Repeat for ALL dory fillets...

Aww... don't they look just so yummy sitting there?

While the fillets are keeping warm, you can start plating up with the side dishes. I had pre-made some mash (potatoes, salt, pepper, butter, a little bit of olive oil and a dash of milk) and a fresh garden salad - butterhead and romaine lettuce, some red and green peppers and a handful of cherry tomatoes!

Tip!

Unless if you're going to eat it immediately, I wouldn't suggest that you pour balsamic vinegar on immediately because it just makes it soggy-ish. I usually pour the dressing on when I'm about to eat it.

Take the fillets out of the oven and plate it up. Serve with a lemon wedge and some tartare sauce!

Happy cooking!

xxx

Bunny

The weekend snacks: Gyoza Part II

I decided to make more this weekend :)

So yes, I added more ginger and more cabbage to the mix! YUMMY!!!

And since I couldn't find any gyoza skins, I used a little plate to cut the wanton skins into circles (although the plate was a teensy bit larger than the skins).

See? Quite perfect isn't it? I realized it really has to be a round and not a square wanton skin... and it really turns out A LOT nicer if you fold only one side instead of both the ends :)

Healthy breakfast

I was at a photoshoot the other day and learnt this from the owner and chef Debbra Lee of Fit For 2 and Bisou. And I've gotta tell you, I have NEVER eaten healthy food that's so bloody delicious!

Anyways, one of them was a Bircher Muesli - which is pretty much soaked oats with some fruits and or nuts.

Bircher Muesli was created by Swiss physician Maximilian Bircher-Benner who needed a diet that was rich in fresh fruit and veggies as part of theraphy.

Anyways, Deb's recipe is super easy and most of the stuff are already in your kitchen. Prepare it the night before, scoop it out in the morning and you're good to go! Plus it's a great snack because it's healthy and not so fattening!

This is my version of her recipe.

Ingredients

• 2 apples. She actually grates them but my grater is a bit too fine so I chop them up in teeny pieces
• 1 cup rolled oats
• Cinnamon powder
• 1 cup or a 135g tub of natural yoghurt
• 1 cup or one tetra pack of apple juice

I usually fill half the container with oats. You can use as much as you can but for starters I'd say about 1 cup would be great. It's always a great idea to start small just to get the feel of how it's done.

Then I add in about 3 shakes of cinnamon powder. I don't put in too much because I don't want it to over power the mix. But if you love the taste of cinnamon, by all means, put in more :)

Then add in the grated/diced apple.

Pour in the yoghurt.

Then pour in the apple juice. I usually use one small tetra pack instead of measuring from the big pack. We don't drink that much apple juice at home so using a big pack means I have to make this quite often and my usual batch lasts me three days....

Mix it well and you're done! Just put it in the fridge over night and you'll find a nice gooey and healthy breakfast ready to go.

Tip!

The measurements for yoghurt and juice really does depend on how much oats you use. When mixing it, if you feel that it's a tad dry, add a little more yoghurt or juice (up to you). It's supposed to be nice and moist but not runny.

When you scoop it out in the morning (or as a snack) and find that it's a little dry... fret not, just add a little yoghurt or fresh milk to loosen it up!

You can even top it up with some fresh berries or a sprinkling of nuts for that crunch.

This is a great basic recipe that you can modify any way you like. Experiment with different types of juices or fruits. Mangos and berries go really well with this. You could also try dried fruit. I usually use apples because they keep really well.

Let me know if you've tried this or made your own variation. I'd love to hear from you!

Happy cooking (or mixing)!

xxx

Bunny

Easy dishes: Indian-style cabbage

Since the pup's part Indian, we decided to start cooking more Indian dishes at home. So for the first try, we're doing a popular Indian-style stir fry cabbage. You can get this from most Indian food stores - they serve it as a side dish with rice and curries.

I never realized how easy this dish was until I started cooking it.

Ingredients

• 1 tsp ghee
• 1 tbsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp chilli flakes/cayenne
• half a head of cabbage, sliced thinly
• salt, to taste

Heat up the frying pan (or wok) on medium low and add the ghee to it. I don't actually use a full teaspoon of ghee but just scrape off more or less.

Tip!

You don't HAVE to use ghee - I mean, it's not the healthiest of fats cook with. But the occasional ghee dish is alright I guess. You can of course use your regular cooking oil for this but I can tell you one thing - ghee gives it that distinct flavor :)

Once it's fully melted, add in the mustard seeds and mix well.

You need to be very alert and quick with this dish. Make sure you keep stirring the mustard seeds around to make sure that they're well coated with the ghee. You'll know it's ready when you see mustard seeds popping up and down. That's when you need to add in the other spices.

If you leave it on for too long, the seeds will start to burn, so I usually measure everything out in a little plate so that I can quickly pour it in!

Mix everything and keep stirring. You want to get the spices infused and if you just leave them there, they'll burn. So keep stirring and you'll get a nice paste.

Add in the cabbage and stir well.

p/s: This is me being a tad ignorant :P I obviously have too much cabbage for my little pan but sometimes I just can't be that all bothered. Please do not do what I do! I ended up with a lot of runaway cabbage pieces and bits of spices splashed on the stove.

Once the cabbage is well coated with the spices and cooked, do a quick taste test. Most times it'll need a bit of salt for flavor. You can turn the heat to low and adjust the flavor.

Plate up and you're done! The great thing about this dish is that it is rather messy so there's really nothing much you can do to pretty it up. Another great thing about it is that, you don't necessarily have to serve it piping hot. It works well cooled down too.

Tip!

If you'd like, you can add some carrot slices, some ginger, curry leaves, or chillies to this dish.

Happy cooking!

xxx

Bunny

The weekend meals: Home made burger patties

Another favorite of ours to make on weekends are definitely home made burger patties. They're so easy and you can really have them any way you like! Double win!!!

We usually use about 150g of meat per patty.

Remove from container and mash it around a bit. I noticed by doing this, it helps to bind the meat together and makes it a little chewier. But don't do it too long because then it will become too chewy and dense!

When you're done, form them into two patties. You can do this any way you like, but we shape it according to the bread bun :P

But general rule is, the thicker it is, the longer it takes to cook and you'll really need to make sure that the insides are cooked before the outsides burn so sometimes thinner patties are better.

I used to make patties with extra veggies, seasonings, bread crumbs and even a bit of egg. You can too! But it's just that we're on this pure ground beef patty thing right now :)

Season both sides with salt and freshly ground pepper and put it in the fridge to let it chill for at least half an hour.

Tip!

If you're using a container, place the lid on. If you're using a plate, place some cling wrap on because if you don't, the patty will dry out a bit.

When the patties are ready, pan fry them with a little butter and olive oil on medium heat. Meat patties tend to kinda puff up in the middle while you cook. To stop that, make an indentation in the middle. You could use the back of a spoon or your thumb. We were just having a bit of fun so we made more indentations across :P

When one side is done, flip over. This side will take about a minute less to cook. When you're done, remove from pan and place it on a plate.

Tip!

Never press the patty down when cooking because this releases the yummy juices and your patty will end up dry.

MAKING THE SIDE DISHES

We usually like more veg on the side than just chips because every other fast food serves chips with burgers!

Today we made butter sautéed veggies and mash.

Here we have butter sautéed mushrooms and onions.... just cut them up into similar sizes, heat up a pan with butter (make sure it doesn't burn!), put the onions in first, when they're almost translucent, put the mushrooms in and stir 'em around. Add some freshly ground pepper and a pinch of salt.

It takes 5 minutes. Seriously.

Then there's mash. Peel and chop two potatoes up into about inch sized chunks. Boil in salted water till they're soft (test it with your fork - if your fork goes thru a chunk easily, that means it ready to be mashed). Drain, add some freshly ground pepper, a dollop of butter and a quick glug of olive oil.

If you have a potato masher, use it. If not a fork does the job pretty well too!

Do a quick taste test. Add some table salt if needed. If not, then you're done!

Finally, plate it all up and enjoy your dinner!!!