Oven-Grill Potato and Carrot Wedges

A healthy snack to have..

Serves 2

Ingredients:
3 large carrots
3 large potatoes
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon olive oil
pinch of salt and black pepper

Method:

• Preheat grill at medium high heat for 10 minutes
• Cut carrots and potatoes into wedges
• Drizzle olive oil on baking tray, spread carrots and potatoes on tray
• Sprinkle on salt, black pepper and parsley and mix evenly
• Grill for 15 minutes, take tray out and flip to the opposite sides of wedges
• Grill for another 10 minutes
• Serve with mayonnaise or cheese dip

*You may leave the skin on potatoes if you like.

Deli Roast Chicken Sandwich

Ingredients:

Sandwhich slices
Roast chicken *leftover (shredded)
Cheese slices
Rocket leaves
Tomato (sliced)
Mayonaise
Black pepper


Method:

• Squeeze mayonaise onto a slice of bread
• Spread ingredients layer by layer - cheese -> tomato -> chicken -> rocket
  
• Secure layers with drizzle of mayonaise in between layers
• Dash of pepper and squeeze mayonaise over rocket
• Cover with another slice of bread and serve

Peaches and Cream on Puffs

I have a sweet tooth and I totally ♥ western desserts. However I don't make many desserts at home because often, special utensils and appliances are required for precise measuements, cutting, mixing and baking. It will not be practical for me to buy them all until I can have a "permanent" personal kitchen.

Kiddo always requests for "special suppers" nowadays. I wonder if I have pampered him too much. (:

I decided to make him something sweet for a change.


Makes 12

Cream:
4 tablespoons thickened cream
2 tablespoons cream cheese
4 tablespoons of caster sugar (5 for brown sugar)

Cream preparation:

• Combine cream, cheese and sugar in a bowl and mix thoroughly.
• Keep in fridge until usage.

Ingredients:
1 sheet frozen puff pastry
1 can peaches in syrup
1 tablespoon icing sugar


Method:

• Preheat oven at 220 degrees celcius.
• Thaw puff pastry in room temperature for 5 minutes.
• Dust icing sugar over thawed pastry evenly.
• Use a sharp knife to cut pastry into 12 (3 columns x 4 rows) even pieces.
• Brush canola oil on baking tray and transfer cut pastries onto tray.
• Bake in oven for 12 minutes.
• Set baked pastries to cool for about 5 minutes.
• Spread a generous dollop of cream on each cooled pastry.
• Place 1 or 2 pieces (as preferred) of peaches atop the cream.
• Repeat process for all pastries.
  
• Serve pastries with hot tea.

**Notes:

• The flavour is incredibly light and not so sweet. For those who prefer it to be sweeter, adjust the sugar content for cream accordingly.
• If desired, pastries can be brushed with egg wash before popping into oven.

Spicy Sausage Pizza with Salami and Peas

This was concocted from a consolidation of the remaining edibles in our fridge. This is what happened when you don't have the time to do grocery shopping and cannot afford the luxury or convenience of local takeouts. Thank goodness we still had cheese and some frozen inventory. I didn't make this though.. leaving the task to my resident sous chef. I admit that I (the resident head chef) occasionally get tired of trying to create tasty food from a constrained inventory. :p


Serves 2

Ingredients:
2 hotdogs (sliced)
1/4 cup frozen peas
1 cup cheddar (or mozzarella) cheese
4 slices shaved salami (torn roughly)
2 tablespoons tomato puree
1 sheet frozen puff pastry
1 tablespoon chilli powder (omit or adjust to preference)

Preparation:

• Preheat oven to 220 degrees.
• Brush canola oil on baking tray.
• Use knife to create 2cm slits around pastry edges.
• Spread tomato puree on puff pastry.
• Scatter and sprinkle ingredients evenly over puff pastry.

Cooking:
Bake pizza in oven for 13 minutes.

Tricolour Sushi Bread

I made this at a time when I wanted to introduce some creativity while cutting down the time I take to prepare a sushi bento.


The ingredients and rolling method were the same as Tomato Spam Sushi. The only difference was that I had used salami slices and white bread in place of hotdog and seasoned rice. From the feedback I received, the texture and taste were refreshingly light and savory, so I considered it success personally.

Spicy Korean Ramen Stir-fry

The Nong Shim instant ramen was an all-time favourite amongst Asian students in Wollongong. It was so popular that it could be out-of-stock ever so often. Although I was pretty sure that the Asian Grocery in Gong was ripping us off by selling them at $0.90 AU individually, I remember that I had bought 5 to 8 packets in a single purchase, from time to time.. until I read "Manufactured in China" in very fineprint at the back of its packaging.


I know that these days, even iMac can be "Made in China", but I felt "cheated".. nonetheless... I realised only much later that a competitor brand - Paldo, was indeed manufactured in Korea even though the words "Korean Noodles" were scrawled explicitly (in Chinese) on its packaging. Talk about successful marketing.. I had been fooled by Nong Shim's packaging for a long time.. :p

Anyway, I got tired of eating the typical soupy version of Ramen and decided to stir-fry the noodles with some leftover roast chicken for a change.


Serves 1

Ingredients:
1 packet Nong Shim instant noodles - spicy mushroom flavour
1 large egg
1 cup roast chicken (shredded)
1 small garlic (chopped finely)
spring onions (chopped finely)
canola oil


Cooking:

• Bring 1 1/2 bowl of water to boil in a soup pan.
• Add noodles and cook for 2 minutes so that it is softened but slightly under-cooked. Drain water.
• In a non-stick pan, fry shredded chicken and dried vegetables (included in the Ramen package) with oil for about 1 minute.
• Add garlic and fry for another minute before adding the noodles and spring onions.
• Stir about 1/2 packet of powdered soup base (included in the Ramen package) evenly into the noodles.
• Fry for another minute and serve with a sunshine egg.
• Hot water can be added to the remaining half of the soup base to make a bowl of soup to go with the noodles.
  

Basically this can only serve as a quick-fix snack or supper. The serving is not big and it has HIGH carbo, HIGH salt and HIGH fat content.. BUT it certainly helps to satisfy the craving for spicy junk food during examination blues. Alternatively, leafy greens can be added to increase nutritional value and lessen consumption guilt.. lol

Golden Packets - Cheddar Sausage Puffs

These are really good for afternoon or party snacks because they are very easy to make and they are so addictive. My little kiddo wasted no time in demolishing them!



Makes 9

Ingredients
2 frozen puff pastry sheets
1 cup sausage frankfurter (cubed finely)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
canola oil
egg wash (optional)

Preparation:

• Thaw puff pastry in room temperature for 5 minutes.
• Brush canola oil on baking tray.
• Preheat oven at 220 degrees.
• Place first sheet of puff pastry on clean working top.
• Sprinkle cheddar cheese and sausage cubes evenly on it.
• Place the other puff pastry on top, to cover all ingredients.
• Seal all 4 corners by pressing them together using fingertips.
• Use a sharp knife to cut the sealed pastry into 9 portions (3x3 columns and rows)
• Seal the edges of all 9 packets by pressing them together. This is to prevent ingredients from spilling out during baking.
• Transfer the sealed packages onto the baking tray.
• Brush with egg wash. *optional
  

Cooking:
Bake pastries in the oven for 15 minutes and serve warm.

Crispy Turkey Spring Rolls

This was one of my first few experimental dishes in Australia when I was quite homesick due to the deprivation of comfort food. Although there is no shortage of Asian or Chinese eateries in Gong (Wollongong), only Malaysians and Singaporeans have an almost similar palate, in terms of food tastes, preferences and variations. One example is our Roti Prata (I haven't eaten it for 2 years now). Apparently, the Straits Malacca's version is different from India's. Anyway... back to the spring rolls... lol...


Makes about 20 rolls

Ingredients:
500g minced turkey
1 egg white
2 carrots (shredded finely)
1 packet of large spring roll sheets (20/pk)
5 garlic (chopped finely)
1 1/2 teaspoon ginger (chopped finely)
8 Chinese dried mushrooms (soaked till softened and cut into fine cubes)
2 large stalks of spring onions / green shallots (chopped finely)
canola oil

Seasonings:
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
2 tablespoons light soy
1 tablespoon dark soy
2 teaspoons white pepper
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons salt
Dash of black pepper

Preparation for filling:

• In a large bowl, combine minced turkey, carrots, mushrooms, garlic, ginger, spring onions and seasonings, mixed thoroughly with cleaned or gloved hands.
• Cover marinated turkey with cling-firm and set aside (in fridge) for 1 hour.
• After 1 hour, wrap filling in spring roll sheets, using egg white to seal edges.
• Each roll requires about 1 1/2 heaped tablespoons of filling and should be about 10cm long, with thickness of 3cm.

Cooking:
Fry rolls in hot canola oil until golden brown. Serve with Kecap Manis, sweet chilli sauce or mayonnaise.

**Notes:

1. Store spring roll sheets in freezer until usage. Use up all, once the packet is opened because the sheets will dry up and become unusable after sometime.
2. Spring rolls can be kept in the freezer for up to a month. I usually keep a batch and fry a few for bento or snacks whenever I feel like having some.
3. I pan fried my spring rolls in a non-stick pan because I dislike excessive usage or wastage of oil. However, using a deep fryer is recommended for best results.
4. Chilled spring rolls can be re-heated in a hot oven grill, crispiness restored.

Cheesy Salami Pizza

Domino's Toni Pepperoni on puff pastry is definitely one of my top favourite/comfort food in Australia. While I have tried other pizzas from its menu, I haven't ordered anything else eversince I have tasted its Toni on Puff. Yes, it is THAT sensational... for a junkie like me. I actually have secret cravings for it once in a while.. which makes it logical for me to try to make it at home.

No online ordering or picking up required. Just simple ingredients and easy preparation. Et viola! It's pretty good, really.

Serves 2

Ingredients:
1 frozen puff pastry sheet
hot shaved salami slices (quartered)
shredded cheddar cheese
tomato pasta sauce (according to preference)
dried chilli flakes (optional)
canola or olive oil

Preparation:

• Preheat oven at 220 degrees for 10 minutes.
• Rub 1 tablespoon of oil evenly onto baking tray.
• Place puff pastry onto tray and use a fork to poke some holes.
• Spread tomato pasta sauce, then add salami slices over surface.
• Sprinkle cheese and chilli flakes over salami evenly.

Cooking:
Pop pastry tray into oven and bake for 15 minutes. Serve hot.

**Optional:

1. Dried chilli flakes
2. Pepperoni to replace salami
3. Mozzarella cheese to replace cheddar
4. Plain tomato puree to replace tomato pasta sauce (I used chunky vegetable pasta sauce for this)