Tomato Rice

Bonjour,

Just like potato, rice is one of the most important staple food in Asia and certain country in the world. Cooking rice is not complicated and there are so many rice recipes that we could easily find in the internet. From plain rice, fried rice and butter to tomato rice, all these rice are so easy to cook. If there are something to impress our dinner guests, these butter rice and tomato rice are perfect and I've made it quite often. Easy yet delicious!

TOMATO RICE

Ingredients;

2 cups rice, rinse before cooking
2 shallots, sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1cm ginger, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
1 cardamom
2 cups water
1/4 cup evaporated milk
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 tablespoon ketchup
2 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoon oil
Salt to taste

METHOD;

- Heat up butter and oil in the rice cooker pot or saucepan and fry shallot, garlic and ginger and the other 3 spiced until fragrant.
- Add water, evaporated milk, tomato, ketchup and salt. Bring to boil.
- Add rice, stir and transfer the pot to the rice cooker, press and let the rice cook itself.
- Cook the rice over low heat if using saucepan and cover with a lid when water is almost dry. Cook until the rice are fully cooked, switch off the heat and wait for 10-15 before serving.

Bon appétit!

Muesli Cookies

Hello,

Whenever I'm searching for the cookies recipe in the internet, I tried to find the eggless recipe where the cookies made with the simple ingredients that I usually have it at home. Muesli cookies are one of the simple and easy cookies that I made today and these cookies are perfect for an afternoon tea. Sometimes making cookies can never go wrong by just adding some other ingredients like maple syrup, chocolate chips or milk. Everything is depends on individual taste and preferences.

The last time I made these muesli cookies during Halloween and we gave out these cookies for the parents who supervise their kids on candy collecting mission. We are so happy that night where everything was finish, candies and cookies..

MUESLI COOKIES

Ingredients;

1 cup muesli
1 cup flour
1/2 cup raisin or chocolate chips, optional
70g salted butter, melted
1/2 cup brown sugar

METHOD;

- Preheat oven 170° and prepare baking dish.
- Mix together melted butter and sugar in a mixing bowl.
- Add muesli, flour and raisin and mix to form a crumbly dough.
- Take a small portion and press to form a ball and flatten it a bit.
- Arrange on the prepared baking dish with 2cm apart and bake for 12-15 minutes or until the cookies are evenly brown.

Happy baking!

Lao-Style Spicy Cucumber Salad

Sabaidee,

I remember eating salads quite often when I was in Laos few years ago. Papaya and cucumber salad are my favourite among other wonderful Laotion salad. Lao-style cucumber salad or called as tum mark dang is delicious and it's perfect to eat with sticky rice. Steamed sticky rice is a staple dish for Laotion and these dish available almost everywhere in Laos.

I've made Lao-style cucumber salad and steamed sticky rice this afternoon just because I craved for these dish since last month. It feels so good to get the tastes of Lao dish once in a while.

LAO-STYLE SPICY CUCUMBER SALAD

Ingredient;

1 cucumber
1 tomato or cherry tomatoes, sliced
1 clove garlic
1-2 Thai chillies
1 tablespoon palm sugar/ brown sugar
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/4 teaspoon shrimp paste
Fish sauce to taste

METHOD;

- Peel the cucumber and shredded, set aside.
- Place the garlic, chillies, sugar, lime juice and shrimp paste in the mortar and pound roughly.
- Add the shredded cucumber and tomatoes and gently pound and stir through with the pestle and spoon. I pound little by little because I had a small mortar.
- Season with fish sauce and add more lime juice if needed and gently mix everything.
- Serve with sticky rice and green salad.

Bon appétit!

Seafood Gratin

Coucou,

When we were in Asia few months back, mon mari has made a seafood gratin for my birthday dinner with all the family member. What can I say, everyone in the family gives him thumps up because the food was really delicious. I recently asked him to make seafood gratin again and again because sometime I craving for food with specific texture like crunchy, soft and creamy, and this seafood gratin now is one of my favourite dish.

SEAFOOD GRATIN

Ingredients:

400g fresh seafood (prawns, mussels, scallops, squid and fish)
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
1cm ginger, chopped
1 red chilli, chopped
1 carrot, julienne
2 cup button mushroom, sliced
1 leek, sliced
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1- 1 1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup bread crumbs
Salt and pepper to taste

METHOD:

- Preheat oven 180°.
- In a large saucepan, heat up some olive oil and fry garlic, shallot, ginger and chilli until fragrant.
- Add in carrot, mushroom and leeks, and cook until the vegetables are softened but not completely cooked. Season with salt and pepper.
- Transfer the vegetables in a baking dish, set aside.
- Use the same saucepan, heat some oil and cook all the seafood for a couple of minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
- Transfer the seafood and mix well with the vegetables in the baking dish. Set aside.

To prepare the sauce;
- Melted butter in a saucepan and add flour, continue stirring and pouring the milk little by little.
- Season with salt and pepper and keep stirring for a couple of minutes or until the sauce has thickened slightly.
- Pour the sauce on the vegetables seafood mixture and mix everything well.
- Sprinkle with bread crumbs on top and bake for 40-50 minutes or until the bread crumbs turned golden brown.

Bon appétit!

Stir Fried Pak Choy

Ni hao,

Pak choy or choy sum is a Chinese green vegetables that we can easily find in Asia but not in our area here. Whenever we go to Asian grocery store, I'm sure will buy some because sometime these green vegetables are not always available. Cooking pak choy are easy and with a quick stir-fry, we have a great meal in just a few minute.

Most of the Chinese recipes are quick and easy to prepare and less ingredients needed, but the result turnout great.

STIR FRIED PAK CHOY

Ingredients;

5-6 heads pak choy, cleaned, trimmed and separate the leaves
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch, dissolved with little water
Salt and pepper to taste
A few drop of sesame oil

METHOD;

- Heat up some oil in a wok or saucepan and fry garlic until fragrant.
- Add pak choy, oyster sauce, soy sauce and season with salt and pepper.
- Stir until coated and toss for a minute.
- Add cornstarch mixture and stir-fry for another minutes.
- Add a few drop of sesame oil and dish out.

Bon appétit!