Foodarrific

It’s been a while since we had homemade pizza. To be honest, we kinda OD’d on it a while back and the kids didn’t want to have anything to do with it .

Recently on one of those quick trips to the baking supply store, I picked up a five-pack of pizza bases. Five regular-sized pizzas would be just right for one meal for us.

What I did was very simple. I opened up a jar of Prego pasta sauce and spread a fairly thick layer on each pizza base. I know many moms use tomato ketchup or puree as a red sauce for pizzas and pastas. The taste is not the same because first off, there are no herbs in ketchup and secondly, puree tastes pretty darned tart unless you spruce it up.

I believe if you want to make a really great pizza or pasta with a decent level of authenticity, you got to either cook your own red sauce or use a really good sauce from a jar. Maybe that’s why my kids are such picky eaters .

Okay, so back to my pizza. I preheat my oven to 350F (180C). I cut my fresh tomatoes and onions into semi-circular rings, and 3-4 cheese sausages into round slices. With the Prego pasta sauce as a base, I layer on the tomatoes, onions and cheese sausages.

Sprinkle a generous amount of grated cheddar cheese on top. Bake for about 20-30 minutes or till cheese is nicely golden. And you’re done! Simple enough!

I remember being pregnant and stuck in one of the business hotels overseas and craving for a pizza. It was way past 9pm and our meeting was still dragging on after hours and by the time we got to the lobby cafe, they had practically run out of food! Can you imagine if I’d had one of these homemade pizzas then!

Filed under: Kid-friendlyLunchbox IdeasMeatOne-dish MealsQuick & Easy CookingRecipesVegetablesWestern by chili queen - No Comments →

Our school day lunches have been rather run-of-the-mill of late due to our hectic schedule. So I try to spice things up during the weekends and school breaks. This time I decided to surprise my daughters with Thai green curry for lunch.

This is a dish I can only prepare when I have ample time because it requires quite a lot of ingredients and preparation. Glad I got to use fresh basil from my own garden and lemongrass from my neighbor’s garden .

For the curry paste, I blended these ingredients into a paste:

• 5 large green chillies, or jalapeno, seeded and chopped
• 1 knob ginger
• 6 cloves garlic
• 4-5 medium sticks of lemongrass, chopped
• zest from 1 lime, grated
• 2 medium onions, diced
• 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
• ½ cup fish sauce
• 1 Tsp sugar

The other ingredients are:

• 2 boneless chicken thighs, cut in 1” pieces
• 2 cups thickened coconut milk
• 1 zucchini, diced
• 1 egg plant, diced
• 6-8 long beans, diced
• 1 bunch basil
• 1 cup chicken stock, or water
• a few drizzles of soy sauce
• 1 Tsp lime juice
• 3 Tsp cooking oil

First I heat up the pot with cooking oil to fry half the green curry paste on medium heat for about 5 minutes till fragrant. Then I add the coconut milk and chicken stock followed by the long beans since they take the longest to soften.

I let it simmer for about 5 minutes before adding the remaining green curry paste and coconut milk, followed by zucchini, eggplant, chicken, soy sauce, lime juice and basil, then for another 5-7 minutes on medium to low heat till the veggies are softened.

As usual, I add just enough salt to taste. Remember the fish sauce and chicken stock are salty in themselves, and you don’t want to end up with a sodium overdose.

Thai green curry is the best thing ever eaten over rice. I’m am not a big rice fan though so I prefer mine over noodles. You can see from the first photo that my curry is not too thick so there’s more than enough sauce to make a noodle soup.

If you’re craving a wonderfully exotic curry, there’s no need to wait till the next time you visit a Thai restaurant or go on vacation at a hotel, try cooking this at home instead. It’s not hard but it needs quite a bit of prep time .

Filed under: AsianCurryOne-dish MealsPoultryRecipesRice & NoodlesSpicyVegetables by chili queen - No Comments →

The weather’s been rainy with cool mornings and heavy downpours in the evenings which would’ve been perfect for checking out the warehouse sale my girl friend’s been dying to get to.

Except she’s down with the flu so there goes our brilliant plan to go shopping for wholesale handbags. So I stayed home and decided to cook tomyam rice noodle soup instead, which incidentally makes a warming meal for cool weather days.

I use tom yam flavored cubes for the soup base. I don’t stick to any particular brand of cubes, sometimes I use Maggi, sometimes Knorr, and you can pretty much use whatever brand you can find. There’s also the tomyam paste that comes in a jar but I didn’t quite like the taste of the ones I tried.

So I tend to stick with the flavored cubes which come in packs of 6. I typically use 3-4 cubes into a saucepan of boiling water to form the soup base depending on how strong a flavor I want.

To sweeten the soup, I add some chicken carcasses (to be removed later), sliced celery and carrots, fresh black mushrooms, fresh enoki mushrooms, fishballs and pork balls. Tomyam goes well with other ingredients like chicken or fish slices, squid or shrimp and whatever vegetables you fancy so go ahead and be creative.

Bring everything to a boil on medium to high heat. It’s important to taste the soup before serving. Depending on which brand and how many cubes I use, the soup may end up too sharp. If that’s the case, I just add a bit of sugar to take the edge off the tomyam. If you’re a chilli freak like me, you can also add fresh chopped chillies to really spice things up !

In another saucepan, I boil up enough water to soak the rice noodles in. When the noodles are softened, drain and scoop into individual bowls. Ladle tomyam soup over the noodles and serve hot. Sometimes I make a big pot of tomyam soup, enough for lunch and dinner and we eat this for a whole day.

Filed under: AsianOne-dish MealsRecipesRice & NoodlesSeafoodSoupsSpicyVegetables by chili queen - 2 Comments →

I’m not really in the habit of buying instant noodles. They’re more of a contingency item that I have around for desperate times. My kids don’t like them (thank goodness!).

While accompanying my girl friend to look for wii accessories, we ended up having breakfast and doing groceries. That’s when I spotted these so-called premium instant noodles. I usually buy el-cheapo instant noodles because, well, aren’t instant noodles supposed to be cheap and quick?

This Four Seas Seaweed Hot and Spicy Instant Noodles are premium so they cost double what I normally pay. Taking expensive to mean a bigger pack of noodles with better taste, I went for it.

I added some cabbage leaves to the noodles. Looks good, doesn’t it? I normally don’t add other ingredients except for veggies maybe. To me, instant noodles are supposed to be quick and easy and fuss-free. I know many folks love to add eggs, meat or seafood though.

Well, obviously premium isn’t for me, I couldn’t even get through this bowl of noodles. The seaweeds are healthy, no doubt but the amount of sodium and MSG in it far outweighs any goodness it might’ve contained. I’ll stick with el-cheapo next time .

Filed under: AsianOne-dish MealsQuick & Easy CookingRice & NoodlesSpicyWestern by chili queen - No Comments →

Isn’t Friday just great! I’ve got a whole weekend to figure out next week’s menu. Not that I ever do that. Still .

#1. Are your Kitchen utensils nylon, silicone, wood or other?

I have all sorts.

#2. Do you prefer dishes washed in a dishwasher or by hand?

Definitely a dishwasher, I hate doing dishes.

#3. How many sets of dishes do you have?

I’ve got two sets of Corelle and a bunch of odd ones that I’ve collected from redemptions and giveaways, and some that I couldn’t resist buying because they were either too cute or too cheap.

#4. Share a recipe that calls for only one pot or pan.

The first recipe that comes to mind whenever anyone says one pot is my all-time favorite Claypot Tofu with Mushroom and Shrimp. It’s easy to make, healthy, very yummy and you sure won’t have to jump on any fitness equipment afterwards .

If you’d like to play Four Foods on Friday, we’d be thrilled to have you. Just go over to valmg’s blog at Fun, Crafts and Recipes for details.

Filed under: KitchenwareMemesTags & AwardsOne-dish MealsTofu by chili queen - 8 Comments →