Foodarrific» Recipes

Steamed eggs

Chili Queen — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 13:13:23 +0000

Sometimes the simplest dishes are the most delicious. On a hot day when anything that’s quick to cook and easy to swallow is a bonus, I like to make steamed eggs.

Only a few ingredients are required for this wholesome steamed egg dish:

2 eggs
2 salted eggs
8 half-shells of water
1 tsp sesame oil
salt and pepper, to taste
spring onions, fine chopped
cilantro, finely chopped
fried shallots

Beat all the ingredients together. Pour into a metal plate and steam over slow heat for 20-25 minutes or until egg mixture is firm. Remove from the steamer and garnish with finely chopped spring onions and cilantro, and a handful of fried shallots.

It’s quicker than applying an eyelash enhancer and I can’t say I’ve ever used one before.

Meatless quesadillas

Chili Queen — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 10:02:59 +0000

One of our favorite things to eat on vegetarian days is homemade meatless quesadilla, my version.

As with most things that I cook, I don’t really have the recipe. This is what you will probably need but feel free to adjust the portions based on what your family likes:

red (tomato) sauce
onion, sliced into rings
tomatoes, sliced into rings
mushrooms
bell pepper
cheese
tortilla

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees. Spread red sauce on the tortilla as a base. Layer on the onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, bell peppers and top with cheese. Fold the tortilla in half. Bake for about 20-30 minutes and you’re ready to dig in.

We love quesadillas because they’re both healthy and delicious and so easy you can practically whip it up in an underground storm shelter if you had to.

Recipe: Apple cinnamon puffs

Chili Queen — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 12:55:54 +0000

It’s been way too long since I last baked a apple pie. At my daughter’s request, I decided to bake 2 pies – one for dessert and the other to be saved for later.

So since I was at the grocery store to pick up some bar supplies, I decided to grab some puff pastry squares. Yes, store-bought because I’m too busy (or too lazy) to make my own.

10 puff pastry squares
2 green apples, diced small
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon flour
1 egg yolk, beaten

I had the oven preheated to 200 degrees F.

Combine apples, honey, cinnamon and flour in a bowl and mix well. Place a spoonful of apple filling in the middle of the puff pastry square and fold neatly into a triangle.

Press down the sides and seal with the tines of a fork. Make some holes on the top of the puff with the fork to let air escape. Brush with egg wash.

Bake for 25 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

That’s it, so simple!

Best chocolate chip cookies ever

Chili Queen — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 01:19:49 +0000

Who doesn’t love chocolate chip cookies? Well, I know they’re big in this household only this time, we’re going to bake them ourselves.

The very simple recipe we used:

1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Cream butter and sugars together.

2. Add in egg.

3. In another bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt. Add slowly into butter mixture and mix well after each addition.

4. Finally, add chocolate chips.

5. Use a spoon or ice-cream scoop to heap spoonfuls of the dough onto a greased baking tin.

6. Bake in preheated oven of 375 degrees F for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.

These chocolate chip cookies are so good your kids will stop their nintendo ds games to grab their fill, I guarantee. You must give these a try!

Vegetarian tempura and miso soup

Chili Queen — Wed, 04 May 2011 12:43:41 +0000

Tempura is a hot favorite in our household and even more so now that I’ve started making it myself for our vegetarian days. With some miso soup to go with my yasai tempura (vegetable tempura), we’ve got an entire Japanese meal at home.

I’ve got my wasabi (green mustard), soy sauce and instant miso soup sachets in 3 flavors – tofu, seaweed and green onion.

The instant miso soup is so easy that I just need to add hot water and all those dried ingredients in the sachet instantly popped to life! The thing I love most is that it’s sodium-reduced too!

The tempura batter is easily whipped up in a large bowl with 1 cup flour, half cup cornflour, pinch of salt and pepper and icy cold water. I’m not one to measure ingredients to a T but these are just to give you an idea.

Mix everything together to a consistency thick enough to coat the veggies. I used sweet potatoes and broccoli here but you can use shrimp and any number of your favorite veggies. Deep fry till golden brown.

The dip is just some wasabi in a small dish with a drizzle of soy sauce stirred together. But be warned, will instantly send a powerful sting right up your nose. If you can get someone to capture that fiery moment on a digital camera casio, it will be priceless (just kidding ).

And there you have it, yasai tempura and miso soup for the whole family without forking out the big bucks.

Sweet sour shrimp

Chili Queen — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 10:49:29 +0000

Remember I left behind my son’s favorite dishes in food storage containers before I left Cali. Well, here’s the recipe for my super easy, super tasty Sweet Sour Shrimp.

I used:

1 packet of large precooked shrimp
1 onion, cut into eighths
1 tomato, quartered
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
tomato ketchup
a few stalks of cilantro, roughly chopped

First, saute the garlic briefly in some cooking oil on high heat until fragrant but be careful not to burn the garlic. Add the onion and saute briefly till translucent.

Add shrimp followed shortly by tomato, ketchup and a splash of water. Allow to simmer on low heat for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and toss in the cilantro just before serving.

And there you have it, a very simple yet tasty dish to go with steamed rice.

Stirfried broccoli and carrots

Chili Queen — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 03:55:33 +0000

This is one of the dishes that I prepared for my son and stored in the fridge to be eaten later. It’s so easy and so healthy you’ve just got to try it.

I used:

2 heads of broccoli, cut into large florets
0.5 bag of baby carrots
1 clove garlic, finely diced
1 small slice of salmon
mushroom/oyster sauce
cooking oil
salt and pepper to taste

First, I heated up some oil in a non-stick pan on medium to low heat.

Place the slice of salmon, lightly salted and peppered, in the pan and let it fry slowly first on one side, then flip over and allow to fry until cooked through and both sides are lightly brown. This should take roughly 10-12 minutes.

Remove the salmon to a plate. Using a fork, break up the salmon into flakes and remove the bones. Leave aside.

Add a bit more oil in the pan on medium heat and lightly fry the garlic for a 2-3 minutes till fragrant. Be careful not to burn the garlic or it will taste bitter.

Throw in the carrots and add a splash of water and leave it for about 5 minutes to soften up.

Add the broccoli, a dash of mushroom/oyster sauce and a sprinkle of pepper. Stir-fry for approximately 5-7 minutes till the broccoli is cooked. Watch closely to ensure broccoli is not overcooked or it will turn yellow.

Serve on a plate (or in my case, I placed in a Rubbermaid container for refrigerating) and top with the salmon flakes.

And that’s all there really is to it. It’s really tasty and goes well with pasta, noodles or rice.

My son had some fruits left over from the fresh fruit baskets we got for Christmas and he ate those for dessert.

Sauteed spinach with fresh button mushrooms

Chili Queen — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 17:33:58 +0000

I have a half bag of spinach left from our spinach soup noodles two nights ago so I decided to use it up in a saute dish. It’s very easy and spinach, as you know, is very good for health and probably takes care of hormonal acne too if I’m not mistaken.

The recipe couldn’t be simpler.

2 cloves garlic, sliced
3-4 fresh button mushrooms, sliced thickly (optional)
spinach
cilantro, coarsely chopped
2 tsp chicken bouillon/powdered flavoring
a dash of soy sauce

Heat up a skillet on medium/high heat with a drizzle of oil. Add garlic and fry for a few minutes till fragrant. Add mushrooms and saute till slightly soften. Add spinach and continue saute-ing for a few more minutes till spinach is wilted down. You do not need to add water as the spinach itself will output liquid as it cooks.

Add chicken flavoring and soy sauce. And you’re ready to serve over rice. It’s really that easy.

Recipe: Crispy Crunchy Chicken Fingers

Chili Queen — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 02:20:08 +0000

Chicken Fingers are a perennial favorite in our household. When all else fails, chicken fingers to the rescue! I’m really not much of a stickler for recipes. I generally just make up the recipes as I go along depending on what I can find in my pantry or my fridge.

I created this version here when my oven refused to work.

It’s really simple and crunchy. You just need some chicken breasts cut into long strips and seasoned lightly with salt and pepper. Leave to marinate for an hour or so. Heat up a good amount of cooking oil in a wok or deep skillet.

Beat up an egg (or two, depending on amount of chicken breasts you’re using). In a plate, combine 1 cup of flour and 2 cups of bread crumbs. Dip the chicken strips in the beaten egg. Dredge them through the flour and breadcrumb mixture to coat evenly. Deep fry till golden brown. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

You may also like to check out another recipe I posted earlier for Finger-Lickin’ Good Chicken Fingers. These are oven-baked and probably won’t have you running out to look for the most effective fat burners because they’re less fattening.

Recipe: Mediterranean rice

Chili Queen — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 06:07:30 +0000

If you’re getting bored with eating white rice and would like to spruce it up a little, Mediterranean rice is an ingenious way to add a splash of color to your everyday plain white rice.

Mediterranean rice is so easy to make and not only looks but also tastes very good. Simply soak a couple of handfuls of frozen veggie mix, i.e. carrots, corn and peas, in water till defrosted.

Wash and strain your usual measurement of rice grains. Set aside.

In a wok on medium heat, add 2-3 blobs of butter. Throw in the veggie mix, add the rice grains and stir to mix well.

Scoop/pour into your rice cooker. Add your usual amount of water and turn it on. In 20 minutes, you will have beautiful Mediterranean rice to serve. Goes great with practically anything and because you’ll tend to eat more rice since it’s so pretty, you might just need the best diet supplement afterwards, hehehe!