Yellow Chicken Curry

OMG. Whatever you do, don't forget the onions like I did. K was distracting me as usual when cooking. But this time I actually forgot something. Sigh. Oh well. It was still alright but DEFINITELY needed the onions to give it that depth of flavour. Now I know how those Chopped contestants feel when they forget an ingredient. :(

This may seem a bit unorthodox. But Hubby dislikes eating saucy chicken with bones. Therefore, to keep the flavour of bone in chicken but not have bones on the chicken (and not have to debone saucy chicken after it's been cooked cuz I really don't like that), I just brown the chicken bones with the chicken. Then I remove the chicken so that it doesn't get tough. Weird, but it works!


Yellow Chicken Curry
(serves 6)

Ingredients:

• 6 skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces after bone have been removed (reserve bones)
• 2 medium potatoes, chopped into 3/4 inch pieces
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 Tbsps curry powder, divided
• 2 Tbsps canola oil, divided
• 2 Tbsps soy sauce
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 red chili pepper, diced
• 1 inch knob of ginger, sliced
• 3 whole garlic cloves, smashed
• 3/4 cup evaporated milk
• Water
• Salt, to taste

Directions:

1. In a small mixing bowl, combine 1 tablespoon of curry powder, 1 tablespoon of oil, soy sauce, cornstarch and sugar with chicken thigh. Marinate for 30 minutes.
2. In a wok over high heat, heat up remaining oil. Once it's smoking, add ginger and garlic. Cook until fragrant. Add in in chicken thigh bones and chicken. Cook the meat until browned and then transfer chicken pieces to a bowl.
3. Add in onion, potatoes, remaining curry powder and red chili pepper. Cook until potatoes ave just starting to cook on the outside, stirring occasionally. You should see the outside 2mm coloured differently than the rest of the potatoes (about 3 minutes).
4. Transfer chicken back into the wok. Pour in just enough water to cover everything. Make sure the potatoes are covered. Bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, or until potatoes are fork tender and chicken is cooked through.
5. Mix in evaporated milk and heat throughout. Do not let boil. Season with salt to taste.
6. Discard bones and serve with rice.

Sichuan Udon Soup Bowl

Super spicy! But that's how K and Hubby likes it. It's remarkable how spicy K likes his stuff. Just like daddy, I guess?

This is super easy and super simple. Perfect to warm you up on a cold night. K loves the fish tofu (it's really just fish paste shaped into tofu and deep fried). He wouldn't eat anything else other than that. That's okay I suppose. At least he's getting SOME protein? =\

It really doesn't matter if you're throwing in frozen or fresh fish tofu and meatballs. As long as they're separated into their own pieces, it's all good. The most important thing is to make sure the soup is super hot if you're having an egg with it. Mind you, if you're scared of eating potentially not fully cooked eggs, just fry it or leave it out all together.


Sichuan Udon Soup Bowl
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 1 2.5oz packet of Sichuan Hot & Spicy Hot Pot soup base
• 8 cups water
• 1 inch knob of ginger
• 1 large carrot, chopped
• 2 small packages of enoki mushrooms, trimmed and washed
• 1 lb fish tofu
• 1 lb beef/pork & mushroom/pork meatballs (any Taiwanese or Vietnamese kind will do)
• 4 packages/blocks of Udon noodles
• 2-3 stalks of green onion, cut into 2 inch slivers
• 4 eggs, at room temperature (optional)
• Cilantro, stalks and leaves separated

Directions:

1. Squeeze out the soup base paste into a large Dutch oven or pot. Add water and bring to a boil.
2. When water boils, add ginger, carrot, cilantro stalks, fish tofu and meatballs. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes, or until they float to the top, if using frozen. Transfer into a large (mixing) bowl or plate.
3. Add in enoki mushrooms and cook for about 3 minutes, or until tender. Transfer to another bowl or plate.
4. Add in noodles and cook until al dente. Split noodles into 4 big bowls. Transfer the meatballs and fish tofu back into the soup to warm up. Leave the soup to boil while you're arranging the bowls.
5. Arrange green onion slivers, enoki mushroom, fish tofu and meatballs on top of the noodles, leaving a small space in the middle for the egg, if using. Crack an egg in the middle and quickly ladle hot soup over top. Garnish with cilantro leaves.
6. Serve hot.

Ham & Peas Pasta

This can be a pretty soupy pasta, which is pretty nice. I just tend not to make it very soupy for K cuz I don't want him making too much of a mess. Plus he's not really that fond of drinking any soups after having pasta. But he loves soupy noodles. What the heck?! O.o

You can always add more or less water. Season it more or less to your liking. Don't like peas? Then don't add them! The green onions do give a nice fresh taste though so I wouldn't leave that out. Unless your toddler doesn't like green onions. Mind you, most toddlers don't like peas either but K loves both peas and green onions. I try to lure him to eat more of the pasta and ham by putting the peas and green onions toward the back of the spoon so he has to eat a full spoonful before he can get to the peas and green onions. Devious? I think so! But totally required...

My mom used to make this for us all the time as kids. It's one of the easiest things to make in the mornings for breakfast before school. Good for leftover ham too. :D


Ham & Peas Pasta
(makes ~2 toddler meals)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dry macaroni, small shell or any small pasta
• 1 slices of ham, finely diced
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1 small stalk green onion, finely diced
• Salt, to taste
• 1/2 pinch chicken bouillon (optional)
• Water

Directions:

1. In a small pot, bring 3 cups of salted water to boil. Add in dry pasta, ham and chicken bouillon, if using. Simmer until pasta is to the texture your toddler likes.
2. Turn off heat and stir in peas and green onions. Taste. Add more water if you want it more soupy and adjust seasoning if needed.
3. Cool to room temperature and serve.

Breakfast on Toast

Breakfast. The best thing about breakfast is runny eggs. No joke. A runny egg will make almost any food 100 times better. :)

I know it's hard to tell, but there's actually a slice of toast underneath all that bacon. You can even see a teeny tiny piece of avocado peaking out on the right. This is pretty good. But you know what makes it even better? Salsa. Or you can use some pico de gallo if you have it.


Breakfast on Toast
(serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 2 slices of bread
• 2 eggs
• 3 strips bacon, cut into halves
• 1 small avocado, sliced
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cup salsa or pico de gallo
• 1 Tbsp butter

Directions:

1. In a small skillet, melt butter over medium low heat. Break eggs into the skillet to cook sunny side up eggs. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Meanwhile, toast bread slices. Once toasted, spread 1/2 of the avocado slices onto each of the toasts. Top with bacon strips (3 half-strips per toast) and then an egg on each toast. 
3. Serve with salsa and coffee, tea or milk.

Note: Been making this as a sandwich (without toasting the bread) and with my breakfast sausage patties instead of bacon and it is FRIGGIN' DELICIOUS! So good that Hubby wants to sell it. As if someone hadn't thought of that already somewhere. Lol!

French Toast

Healthy French toast? HAH! I suppose it could happen. I use my Silver Hills bread for it, even though I drench the whole thing in maple syrup. Does that count? ;)

Seriously though, brioche or Challah bread is the best when it comes to making french toast. I didn't plan on making it, so I didn't buy any. That's okay. I had way too much sliced bread anyway.

Usually when I'm using sliced sandwich bread, I'll be able to make 10 pieces of French toast. Otherwise, it's only 8 pieces.


French Toast
(serves 4-5)

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 Tbsps honey
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• A pinch of salt
• 8 slices 1 inch thick brioche/Challah bread or 10 slices sandwich bread
• 4-5 Tbsps butter, divided
• Maple Syrup

Directions:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, beat eggs with honey, cinnamon and salt. Stir in milk.
2. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat in a large skillet.
3. While butter is melting, dip 2 slices of bread into the custard mixture. Let excess drip off and lay them on skillet to cook. Once brown, flip over to cook the other side. Repeat with remaining slices of bread. 
4. Serve with fresh fruit, maple syrup, honey, fruit compote, powdered sugar, flavoured butter, Nutella, whipped cream, etc.

Egg on Fish

Haha. I didn't notice it at first, but if you look at the picture closely, you can see a smiley face with a tongue (the fish) sticking out! How creepy...

So, did I mention that I bought a lot of snapper from Costco? I think this'll be the last time I do that. I always seem to forget that we just don't eat enough fish to validate buying it from there. Normally I'd freeze excess food, but with fish, there's no freezing! After it defrosts, it's so darn fishy that we can't even eat it. Ai..when will I learn? =\


Egg on Fish
(serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 8 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2 small snapper filet
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• 2 Tbsps extra virgin olive oil, divided

Directions:

1. In a small skillet, heat up 1 tablespoon of olive oil in over medium low heat. Crack the eggs into the skillet. Season with salt and pepper. Let it cook slowly. If you're in a rush, cover with a lid to cook faster (which is what I did. Hence the whitish film over the yolk).
2. Meanwhile, heat up the remaining olive oil over medium high heat in another pan. Season both sides of the snapper filet with salt and pepper. Pan fry the filet until golden brown on one side. Gently flip filet over to cook other side. Add in tomato halves. Cook the fish with the tomatoes until fish is cooked through. Season with more salt and pepper, if needed.
3. Transfer fish onto a plate, top with fried egg & tomatoes.
4. Serve with toast or hash browns and coffee or milk.

Black Bean Salad

You know, I cannot believe I haven't made a post about this recipe yet. This is one of the salads that I make every summer because Hubby and I both love it so much. It's stupid easy and filling. It's better with the lemon juice (or even lime juice) but we don't always use it if we don't have it. It still tastes good but the acid from the lemon/lime juice really makes the salad scrumptious. :)


Black Bean Salad
(serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

• 1 540ml (19oz) can of black beans, rinsed & drained
• 1 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved (or 2 medium tomatoes, chopped)
• 1 311g (11oz) can of corn niblets, rinsed and drained
• 2 green onion stalks, finely diced
• 2 small or medium avocados, chopped
• 2 Tbsps garlic infused extra virgin olive oil
• Juice of half a lemon or lime
• Salt, to taste

Directions:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, toss everything, except the avocado, and a pinch of salt together. Season with more salt if necessary. Just before serving, toss in avocado chunks.
2. Serve with grilled chicken or steak.

Tomato Fish Stew

Never would I have thought to make a fish stew. I was actually going to make a chowder with all this snapper that I got from Costco. But then I saw "stew" and thought "oh why not?"

I gotta say...this isn't bad. It tastes especially yummy over Brown Rice and Beans. I had it the next day for lunch and it wasn't fishy either. SCORE! :D


Tomato Fish Stew
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 6 snapper filet, quartered into strips (about 2 lbs)
• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 1 tsp dried thyme (or 1 spring of fresh thyme)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 inch knob of ginger, minced
• 1 Tbsp fish sauce
• 1/3 cup water
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• 2 Tbsps virgin olive oil, divided

Directions:

1. Heat up 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat in a large sauce pan. Season the fish strips with salt and pepper. Pan fry the strips until golden brown on both sides. Transfer to a plate.
2. Heat up remaining olive oil in the pan. Toss in onions, tomatoes, thyme, garlic, ginger and fish sauce. Cook until onions and tomatoes have softened. Add in water. Return fish to the pan. Cover and simmer for 3-5 minutes, until the fish is cooked through.
3. Serve over Brown Rice and Beans (or just rice).

Brown Rice & Beans

Teeheehee. Hubby will always refuse brown rice. Unless it's my mom mixing it with jasmine rice. Then he can't really complain and he just eats it. Begrudgingly. Regardless, I'm trying to eat healthier. (Trying is the operative word here.) That being said, I wanted to try brown rice without mixing it with white rice. It may not sound like a big deal to most people, but it's so scary for me. I LOVE my sushi and jasmine rice. Sometimes I actually do wonder if I can live longer without rice or without Hubby.

Anywho, I saw a recipe for Jamaican rice and peas, so I thought I'd try it out with brown rice and black beans (rather than kidney, since I didn't have any). It's pretty darn good. Maybe I'll actually try brown rice in place of white rice one day. Maybe.

Oh yeah, before I forget. The whole point of this was that I somehow managed to get Hubby to have brown rice without him knowing that it was brown rice. He just doesn't like beans with his rice, so I'll have to do something about that next time. Progress!


Brown Rice & Beans
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 1 400ml (13.5oz) can of coconut milk
• 1 cup brown rice, uncooked
• 1 cup cooked black beans
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• Salt, to taste
• 1/2 cup water

Directions:

1. In a medium pot, heat up the cream part of the coconut milk over medium high heat. Once bubbly, stir in onions. Cook until soften.
2. Stir in allspice, cumin and a pinch of salt. Add in rice and mix until it's all coated with the coconut cream.
3. Pour the remaining can of coconut milk and water. Bring to a boil. Cover, lower the heat to a bare simmer and simmer for 45 minutes. Turn off heat and stir in black beans. Cover and let rest for 5 minutes.
4. Serve as a side with grilled fish/prawns and a side salad, or fish stew.

Cheesy Mashed Potatoes

A few years back, I was on this diet where I couldn't have any butter or oils (except for virgin olive oil), among other things...But I wanted mashed potatoes. So instead of adding butter and milk, I added cheese. It was a good idea.

I hadn't made it again since then. But I thought I'd try that diet again. So here we go...Cheesy Mashed Potatoes that even K and Hubby will devour. :)


Cheesy Mashed Potatoes
(serves 3-4)

Ingredients:

• 3 large russet potatoes, cubed
• 1 cup cheddar/marbled cheese, shredded
• 1/4 cup hot milk
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Boil potatoes in salted water until fork tender. Drain water.
2. Add hot milk and cheese to the drained potatoes. Mash with potato masher. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Serve with veggies and grilled meat.

Stir Fried Snow Pea Leaves with Prawns

This is really just another variation of my Garlic Stir Fried Snow Pea Leaves. I had some and needed a very quick lunch. K really liked the prawns but I had to shovel it down quickly so he wouldn't be able to eat much. Not that I'm trying to starve my kid, but he's pretty sensitive to shellfish, so it's just best if he doesn't have too much of it.


Stir Fried Snow Pea Leaves with Prawns
(serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb snow pea leaves, rinsed
• 1/2 lb medium prawns, shelled & deveined
• 1 red hot chili, finely diced
• 2-4 ginger slices
• 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 Tbsps canola oil
• Salt, to taste

Directions:

1. Heat a wok over high heat until smoking hot. Add canola oil. Once the oil is shimmering, quickly drop in the ginger slices, garlic & chili. Cook until fragrant.
2. Toss in prawns and cook until just starting to turn opaque.
3. Add in the snow pea leaves, turning over as you add more. Keep turning and mixing until about 2/3 of the leaves are all wilted. Season with salt. Cover with lid and cook for 3-4 minutes or until all the leaves have wilted. 
4. Serve with rice (and a protein side dish if you need more protein).

Garlic Stir Fried Snow Pea Leaves

This is one of my favourite veggie dishes to order when in Chinese restaurants. It's stupid easy to make but tastes really good. Hubby typically will eat all the garlic so I don't bother mincing it up. There's no point! the only "bad" thing is that you kinda need to use a lot of oil. Or at least a lot more than you'd normally use. But who cares...it's not like I have this very often. ;)

These leaves are like spinach in that they will take up so much space when raw, but if you cook them, they'll wilt so much. So make sure you're cooking enough!


Garlic Stir Fried Snow Pea Leaves
(serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb snow pea leaves, rinsed
• 2-4 ginger slices
• 3-4 garlic cloves
• 2 Tbsps canola oil
• Salt, to taste

Directions:

1. Heat a wok over high heat until smoking hot. Add canola oil. Once the oil is shimmering, quickly drop in the ginger slices and garlic cloves. Cook until fragrant.
2. Add in the snow pea leaves, turning over as you add more. Keep turning and mixing until about 2/3 of the leaves are all wilted. Season with salt. Cover with lid and cook for 3-4 minutes or until all the leaves have wilted. 
3. Serve with rice and a protein side dish.

Pork & Cabbage Gyozas with Soy Dipping Sauce

I used to make these and wontons ALL the time before K. It was something that I could do while watching TV rather than snacking. Ever since K, I hadn't really had much time to do it. It didn't occur to me that Hubby may actually be craving it. Plus it's nice to have dumplings in the freezer ready to go whenever you want to make some for breakfast before work or a quick snack or lunch or even dinner!

Best part of all was when I found out something new about Hubby; I almost never find out anything new about him anymore after over a decade of being together. Apparently he knows how to fold these little guys. And he's pretty good at it too. Very impressive. <3

I learned how to wrap these little guys when I was working in a Japanese restaurant after high school. Hubby learned from his mom.


Pork & Cabbage Gyozas with Soy Dipping Sauce
(makes about 100 Gyozas)

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs lean ground pork
• 6 cups loosely packed napa cabbage, minced
• 1 tsp salt
• 6 Tbsps soy sauce, divided
• 3 Tbsps grated ginger
• 2 Tbsps Shaoxing wine
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil, more for dipping sauce
• 100 round Gyoza wrappers (about 3 packages of the Double Happiness brand)
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 1/2 tsp honey
• Chili oil, to taste
• 2 Tbsps canola oil
• Water

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, mix cabbage with salt. Set aside and let sit for 15 minutes to draw out all the water while you prepare the meat mixture & prepare your work surface.
2. In another large bow, mix ground pork with 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, grated ginger, wine, sugar and 1 tablespoon of sesame oil until well combined. Set aside.
3. Line 2 baking sheets or some large plates with wax paper. Set aside.
4. Fill a small bowl with water. Set aside.
5. After 15 minutes, use a cheesecloth or your hands to squeeze out all of the excess liquid. This will prevent the dumplings from getting soggy.
6. Transfer drained cabbage into the meat mixture. Mix well with hands.
7. Lay a dumpling wrapper on a dry work surface, and place a heaping teaspoon of the meat mixture in the center of the wrapper. With a fingertip moistened with water, trace a line along half of the edge of the round wrapper. Fold the wrapper over to enclose the filling, and pinch one end of the half circle to seal the edges together at that spot. Pinching the one end between your index finger and thumb in your left hand, use your right index finger to push the top fold to the left. Use the left index finger to pinch the new pleat down to seal and repeat until the dumpling has been sealed all around. Set the stuffed dumpling with the pleated wrapper edge up on the wax paper lined plate/baking sheet. Repeat until all the meat and cabbage mixture or dumpling wrappers are gone. (Click here if you need a video visual. This person does it very similar to the way I do it but with way more filling; I use less filling.)
8. At this point, you can freeze all the dumplings for 2-3 hours before transferring them into bags for easier storage until you're ready to eat them.
9. To cook, heat up canola oil in a large skillet with a tight fitting lid over medium high heat. Gently place frozen (or fresh but never defrosted or it'll be a soggy sticky mess) dumplings flat side down in the skillet; don't worry about crowding the pan, as the dumplings can touch each other. Arming yourself with the lid, quickly pour 1/3 cup of water into the skillet and quickly cover. Let cook until the water has almost all evaporated. Uncover and cook until the water is evaporated and bottoms are golden brown, gently shaking the pan occasionally to keep the dumplings from sticking to the pan. Transfer to a plate, golden brown bottoms up.
10. Mix together remaining 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, vinegar, honey, a couple of drops of sesame oil and a few drops of chili oil in a small bowl for the dipping sauce.
11. Serve Gyozas hot with the dipping sauce.