Baked Pork & Rice

OMGOMGOMG. You know the baked pork chop rice you can get at Hong Kong style cafes? I LOVE that dish! I've always gotten it whenever I go to these little cafes and I love it. Absolutely love it. It can be a little annoying because the pork chop is cut into strips so you still have to cut them smaller or use your teeth to tear them apart. Kinda neanderthal-ish. But I'm used to it so it doesn't really bother me that much. Just a little inconvenient but easily solved by slicing everything up on a side plate. :)

So my sis and I were talking about our love of HK style cafes and how our spouses don't care for them at all (the horror), and she suggested that I just try making this dish on my own. So I did.

I wouldn't call this a fail, since it's so yummy. But it's definitely not as sweet and tangy as the dish we'd get at the restaurants. This sauce is much more meaty. And I cut the pork chop up into bite sized pieces before baking. Then I don't need to do any extra cutting. Just shovel the food into my mouth. My favourite way to eat things. LOL.


Baked Pork & Rice
(serves 3-4)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups day old cooked white rice
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 3 boneless thin pork cutlets
• 2 medium tomatoes, cut into wedges
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 2/3 cup ketchup
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 Tbsps sugar, divided
• 2 Tbsps soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 4 Tbsps canola oil, divided
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. In a Ziploc bag or shallow dish, mix together 1 tablespoon of sugar, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Add in pork cutlets and marinade for 15-30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 375F.
3. In a wok or frying pan, heat up 2 tablespoons of canola oil on medium high heat. Stir in eggs and mix around, breaking it up into small pieces of scrambled egg. When egg is half cooked, add rice and stir. Season with salt and pepper. Stir fried rice until rice is heated through and eggs are cooked. Transfer to a 1 1/2 quart oven safe dish. Set aside.
4. In a frying pan, heat up remaining canola oil on medium high heat. Place pork cutlets in hot pan, reserving marinade. Cook 2 minutes on each side, or until cooked through. Transfer to a plate.
5. Add onions and tomatoes to the pan and cook until tomatoes and onions have soften. Add in garlic, ketchup, water, remaining sugar and reserved marinade. Scrape up any brown bits on the bottom and lower heat to medium low. Let the sauce simmer for a few minutes.
6. While sauce is simmering, cut up pork cutlets into bite sized pieces. Transfer the pork cutlet pieces, along with any juices that have leaked out onto the plate into the sauce mixture. Stir to combine. Season with salt, pepper and sugar (if too tangy) to taste.
7. Turn off heat and pour pork and sauce mixture over the fried rice. Sprinkle on the mozzarella cheese and bake for 15-20 minutes, until the cheese is nice and bubbly.
8. Serve with a side salad and/or soup.

Update: Corrected a typo. Sugar should've been divided otherwise it'll burn the wok or pan when cooking the pork chops. I made this again and just cubed the pork chop first to make it cook a little faster and have more seared surface area. Easier and just as yummy. :)

Frenchy Twice Baked Potatoes

Mashed potatoes can get kinda boring so I wanted to try something new. We always love the Keg's twice baked potato, so I thought I'd try it out. With a twist! The twist being that I'd use a french onion dip in place of sour cream. LOL. The things I do to try to use up leftover dip...Luckily it turned out nice! :)


Frenchy Twice Baked Potatoes
(serves 10-12)

Ingredients:

• 8 baking/Russet potatoes, washed and scrubbed
• 3 Tbsps canola oil
• 1 cup French onion dip
• 2 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded
• 2 green onion stalks, finely diced
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 3 Tbsps extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F and line baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Place potatoes on the parchment lined baking sheet and rub with canola oil. Bake for 1 hour, or until potatoes are fully cooked. Give the potatoes a squeeze and if it has a little give, it's done.
3. Lower oven temperature to 350F.
4. In a large mixing bowl, combine dip, cheese and green onions. Set aside.
5. Using a sharp knife, cut the potatoes in half. Use a spoon to scoop out the filling into the dip mixture, leaving about 1/4 inch of rim on the potatoes intact for support.
6. Use a potato masher to mash everything together. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
7. Scoop filing mixture back into the potato shells so that they're heaping full. You may not use all the shells, but that's okay. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and bake for 15-20 minutes until the tops start getting brown.
8. Serve with grilled chicken or alone with a side salad.

Peanut Butter & Banana Dog Biscuits

First time making dog biscuits and it was a roaring success! M really loved these. I think she loves them more than her Greenies. Sweet! Some of the pups at work really like them too so that's definitely good.

Since having K, I've actually enjoyed baking. And since I've been baking for humans, I thought I'd try my hand at baking for pups. I like it. Maybe I'll make different kinds of biscuits next time. :)

M is a pretty small dog, so I shared most of her goodies away with friends' and neighbours' dogs.

You can probably turn dough onto a floured surface, but I'm a freak and like everything neat. That being said, I just roll it out onto wax paper to keep flour from getting everywhere. Lol.


Peanut Butter & Banana Dog Biscuits
(makes about a pound of biscuits)

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup natural peanut butter
• 2 medium ripe bananas, mashed (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 cup whole wheat flour, more if needed
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• Olive oil (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. Stir together the egg, peanut butter and banana in a medium bowl; blend thoroughly. 
3. Stir in the flour and wheat germ and mix well. Dough should smooth and elastic. If dough is sticky, just add a touch more flour. If dough is crumbly and not holding together, then add a little bit of olive oil.
4. Place smooth dough onto wax paper and roll to 1/4 inch thick. Cut into desired shapes with a cookie cutter, place on parchment lined baking sheets.
5. Bake biscuits in preheated oven until dried and golden brown, about 30 minutes, depending on size. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.
6. Store in airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Hot Chocolate Mix

Hot chocolate!! It's definitely one of the best things about Christmas. Loads of hot chocolate. I actually quite like this recipe. It's very chocolatey.

Honestly, you can add hot water or hot milk in it. I find that if you make this with hot milk it's a lot creamier and less likely to clump than when I made this with hot water. Sorry Alton. :P


Hot Chocolate Mix
(makes 5 1/2 cups of mix)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup cocoa (Dutch-process preferred)
• 2 1/2 cups powdered milk
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsps cornstarch
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or more to taste (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients until well incorporated. Mix can store indefinitely in an airtight container in the pantry.
2. To serve, scoop 1/3 cup of mix into a mug and pour in 1 cup of hot milk/water, stirring vigorously to combine.

Yellow Wine Chicken

I made "all" this yellow wine over the summer and still haven't used it for anything more than marinades and sauces. I've been meaning to make Yellow Wine Chicken, and so I finally did. I normally don't like it at all, but I liked this one. Probably because it wasn't so strong that it could kill someone and wasn't so weak that it makes you wonder where the wine went. :P

The broth is very good for you, so don't waste it!


Yellow Wine Chicken
(serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken legs, thigh and drumstick separated
• 1 inch knob ginger, sliced
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups yellow wine

Directions:

1. Place everything in a medium pot and bring to a gentle boil. Lower the heat and simmer covered for 25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
2. Serve alone or with rice.

Mushrooms & Chicken

Typical simple dinner fair. It's almost all in one! If you don't have carbs, then yes it can be. Otherwise it's a pretty standard dish to eat with rice. Yum. Rice. Seriously there is no food better than rice and some sort of dish to eat with it. Either that or just rice. But this was pretty good. K ate all the peppers and mushrooms in his bowl and then ate more of it the next day for his lunch. So proud that he eats so much veggies. I hope this lasts. >_>

Anywho, you can also make it vegetarian by using medium firm tofu instead of the chicken. It's what I'd do if it was just K and me eating. But Hubby needs his meat. Meh.


Mushrooms & Chicken
(serves 3-4)

Ingredients:

• 1 large or 2 small chicken breasts, cubed
• 1 bell pepper, cut into strips
• 2 cups mushrooms, sliced
• 2 green onion stalks, cut into 2 inch long pieces
• 1 inch ginger, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 dash Maggi Seasoning
• 2 Tbsps soy sauce
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp water
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 2 Tbsps canola oil

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a wok on medium high heat. Toss in chicken and cook until meat starts turning opaque.
2. Add in ginger and mushrooms. Cook until mushrooms start turning brown. 
3. Stir in garlic, bell peppers, Maggi, soy sauce, sugar and cook until peppers are tender crisp.
4. In a small bowl, dissolve cornstarch in water. Add to wok. Toss in green onions and stir until sauce is thick.
5. Serve with rice.

Mexican Meatloaf

So meatloaf reminds Hubby of dog food. WOW. Seriously? This delicious piece of meat. Dog food?! AIYA.../facepalm

He still ate it so it's all good and this means more leftovers for K and me! :D

I had no ground beef in the house so I had to make do with some ground pork. Good thing cuz I think I like it better when it's with ground pork. It reminds me of the "meat cookie" that my mom always made when we were kids. My mouth is salivating just thinking of it. Yum yum yum.

I assure you that this definitely didn't taste like "dog food". I liked it quite a bit and so did K. I can tell cuz he doesn't usually eat meat but he ate this and ate it for daycare the next day. Yes! /pumps fists


Mexican Meatloaf
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb lean ground pork
• 2/3 cup cheddar cheese, shredded (I used a pre-shredded Mexican blend)
• 1/2 cup fresh salsa
• 1/2 rolled oats
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp chili powder
• Salt and pepper, to taste (at least 1/2 tsp of each)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F and line a baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine everything and mix well.
3. Transfer meat mixture onto the pan and shape into a loaf. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 160F. If the top starts to burn, just lightly cover the top with aluminum foil.
4. Take the meatloaf out and let it rest for 10-15 minutes before slicing.
5. Serve with rice and soup or salad.

Nutfree Toddler Granola Bars

K loves his cereal bars. We buy the organic ones from our grocery store all the time for him. But from the way he was devouring them, we were going to either go broke (haha not really cuz we're not that poor) or he'd  go crazy from all that sugar. That got me wondering about the possibility of making my own granola bars for him to take to daycare. It's a nut-free facility so I had to make sure there wasn't any nuts in the product. Poor guy. K loves his peanut butter but basically can only have it at home. Oh well.

Of course I researched and then decided to make these granola bars instead of the cereal bars where I have to ground all the stuff into flour. Good thing cuz I'm too lazy to do all that extra work. This turned out pretty well. But I think I'm going to use a bigger pan or split the mixture in two and make two separate dishes worth so that the bars wouldn't be quite so thick. And maybe add some applesauce to it so that it's less crumbly.


Nutfree Toddler Granola Bars
(makes 12 thick bars or 24 thin bars)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup raisins
• 2/3 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line a 8" x 8" square baking pan (for thick bars) with parchment paper. Line two pans if you want thinner bars. Make sure there's some parchment paper hanging over the sides so you can use them to pick up the slab of granola later. Set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients (oats, raisins, cranberries, chocolate chips, wheat germ, flours, sugar, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg). Once mixed well, stir in honey, oil, egg and vanilla extract until everything is mixed very well.
3. Transfer mixture to your parchment paper lined pan(s) and use your hands or a spatula to smooth out the top so that it's nice and flat.
4. Bake for 12-15 minutes (thin bars) or 18-20 minutes (thick bars), or until the sides start turning golden brown.
5. Let the slab(s) rest out of the oven for about 5 minutes, then lift them out of their pan(s). Using a sharp knife, cut the slab(s) into bars.
6. Let the bars cool down completely before storing in an airtight container or a large Ziploc bag to keep the bars chewy.

Steamed Spareribs with Black Bean Sauce

This dish totally reminds me of home (except my mom would always put leftover plum sauce from take out into the marinade). I used to love eating these spareribs and then using the sauce to douse my rice. Heck, I can just have mostly rice and sauce with a couple of pieces of the spareribs. Childhood memories are pretty awesome, eh? Somehow mine just always revolve around food. I guess maybe I've always been addicted to food...


Steamed Spareribs with Black Bean Sauce
(serves 2-3)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs pork spareribs, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1-2 packets of plum sauce from Chinese takeout places (optional)
• 2 Tbsps black bean sauce
• 1 Tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 1 Tbsp ginger, minced or grated
• 2 tsps cornstarch
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp canola oil
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 pinch black pepper

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, mix everything together until every piece of sparerib is covered in sauce/marinade. Transfer into a shallow, heatproof pan or plate with high sides (like a pie plate that you bake pies in or a cake pan). Let marinade at room temperature for half hour or cover and marinade overnight in the fridge.
2. Set a steamer rack on the bottom of a large pot or wok with enough water so that the dish is suspended above the water surface. 
3. Bring water to boil. Place dish on the steam rack and then top it with a flat plate. Cover and cook for 20 minutes on medium high heat.
4. Serve with rice and some steamed/stir fry veggies.

Andouille Sausage and Linguine

Pasta pasta. I always used to have lots of pasta. It was one of the easiest things to make for dinner after work. Somehow I just stopped making pasta and eating more rice. Meh. Rice is pretty darn awesome. I can eat it all day every day. As long as there's something to eat with it of course.

Well I had andouille sausage and no clue what to do with it. Brain fart. So I went with my old stand by when it comes to a quick pasta dinner.


Andouille Sausage and Linguine
(serves 3-4)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb linguine
• 2 Andouille sausage links, sliced
• 4 bacon slices, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, cut into strips
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp red chili flakes
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Boil salted water in a pot and cook linguine while you get the rest of the dish ready. Make sure linguine is cooked just under al dente.
2. In a large skillet, cook bacon. Transfer bacon pieces to a towel lined bowl or plate. Set aside.
3. Toss in sausage, onions, bell peppers, garlic and chili flakes. Cook until sausage is golden brown and veggies are tender.
4. Using tongs, transfer just under al dente linguine from pot to skillet. Stir in bacon pieces, salt and pepper and mix well. If the pasta seems dry, just add a bit of pasta water to loosen things up.
5. Serve with a side salad and/or soup.

Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Christmas is coming! This means I'm probably going to start making a bunch of little goodies for friends and neighbours. Family gets the turkey dinner. ;)

I like giving baked goods and treat as gifts rather than going out to buy something. It just feels more personal. It has nothing to do with the fact that crowded malls irritate me more than nails on a chalkboard. Nope, none at all............


Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
(makes 2 dozen cookies)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsps packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup raisins

Directions:

1. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. Beat butter and sugar in a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add in the egg and vanilla extract and beat until smooth.
3. While the mixer is beating the liquids, whisk together the flours, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl when the liquids are smooth. Stir in the dry ingredients until just combined.
4. Stir in oats and raisins until just combined.
5. Spoon about a tablespoon of batter onto the cookie sheets, setting them about an inch apart. Chill cookies in the fridge for a few minutes while you preheat the oven to 350F.
6. When oven reaches 350F, take cookies out of the fridge and bake for 10-12 minutes, turning and rotating halfway if necessary, or until the edges just start to get a little golden brown.
7. Cool for a couple of minutes on the cookie sheets before transferring to cooling rack to cool completely.
8. Serve warm with coffee or milk or cool completely to package with other goodies.

It's not really necessary to chill the batter, so you can always preheat the oven in the beginning. It's thicker if you chill the dough though.

Everyday Omelette

Some nights I have no clue what to cook for dinner. Actually, that's a lie...Most days I have no clue what to cook for dinner. Or at least that was the case a while back.

Someone gave me the idea of have breakfast for dinner. So that's what I do now when I don't know what to cook for dinner. Breakfast foods are pretty easy to make, after all. Or at least the stuff we usually eat. Except for those bennies that I like so much.

Anywho...one of our old standbys are omelettes. We always have eggs, onions and some sort of cheese. When I have leftover bell peppers and mushrooms, I'll make a batch of the filling so that I can quickly make some omelettes over the next few days if needed. Sometimes we won't have bacon in the omelette if we don't have any raw bacon in the fridge but it certainly is awesome when we do.


Everyday Omelette
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 8 eggs
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 bacon strips, diced
• 1 cup cheese, shredded (any kind you like)
• 1/2 tsp red chili flakes
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• 6 Tbsps canola oil or bacon grease

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, cook bacon on medium high heat until crispy. Transfer cooked bacon bits to a towel lined bowl and set aside. Drain grease, leaving about 2 tablespoons left in the skillet. 
2. Stir in onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, garlic and chili flakes. Saute until veggies are tender crisp. Mix in the crisp bacon bits. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer filling mixture back to the bowl. Set aside.
3. Add 1 tablespoon of bacon grease or canola oil in the skillet. Turn heat down to low-medium low. While the grease/oil is heating up, beat two eggs in a small bowl. Gently pour eggs into the skillet, covering the bottom. Sprinkle on a pinch of salt and pepper. Sprinkle on about 1/4 cup of shredded cheese all over the top of the eggs. By now the eggs should almost be cooked through (very little liquidy parts left when jiggled). Spoon about 3-4 tablespoons of filling onto one half of the omelette. Using a spatula, gently fold over the other side of the omelette. Let the omelette sit in the pan for about half a minute so that the warm cheese on the top starts adhering to the filling.
4. Slide omelette onto a plate and repeat with the other three omelettes.
5. Serve with a side of toast and maybe some hot sauce.

If your pan has hot spots like mine, just spoon the filling into the "rawer" half of the omelette since it'll continue to cook after the other half of the egg circle has been flipped on top. If the omelette is cooking too quickly (read: brown bottom but raw on top before cheese and filling is added) then turn your heat down. You can also add about a teaspoon of water after everything has cooked and cover with a lid to simmer. I find that it actually makes the egg a little fluffier after it has its little mini steam treatment.