Baked grouper with cheese and panko

How do you like to cook your fish? My first choice is always steam because it is easy and does not make your kitchen oily. Next is pan fried - although I love the taste, it always make my kitchen oily. This time I tried to cook my fish a different way - baked in oven with panko. I must say, my boy is really not used to eating fish like this but my husband said it's not that bad tasting.

Ingredients
2 portion of red grouper (or any firm white fish / I think fillet works even better)
1/2 cup Panko (breadcrumbs)
1/4 cup grated Gouda cheese 
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp lemon juice 
Salt
Black pepper

Recipe
1. Season the fish with salt and black pepper and set aside.
2. Melt the butter in a bowl and add lemon juice to it. Mix well. 
3. Coat the fish in the butter mixture and place on the baking tray.
4. In a bowl, mix the grated cheese and panko together. This time I did not add any oil to the panko and it does not brown that well. I suggest you can add some butter/oil to the panko so that it will brown nicely.
5. Spread the panko mixture over the fish nicely. I think it is easier to spread all over when it is fillet.
6. Bake it in oven at 180 degree celcius till it is cooked. You can check with a toothpick or fork to see if can pierce through the centre nicely. Mine took about 20 minutes as it was quite thick.
7. Sprinkle some parsley on top if you like.

Chicken soup with apple and pear

The weather has been very hot these days so it's good to prepare this soup. The apple and Chinese pear make the soup sweet and children friendly. I have added white fungus which is very nourishing for the lungs too. 

Ingredients

1 Chicken leg (skin removed/cut into half)

1 Chinese pear

1 Apple (I use Royal Gala)

1 Pc of white fungus (about palm size) 

6 Red dates

Recipe

1. Put the chicken into boiling water and boil for a few minutes till the scum appears. Drain and rinse it before putting into the slower cooker.

2. Peel the skin of the pear and apple and cut them into large chunks. Add the pear and apple into the slow cooker.

3. Put in the red dates and pour in water to cover the ingredients. Turn the slow cooker to auto mode for at least 3-4 hours.  

4. About 30 minutes before serving the soup, soak the white fungus till soft. Remove the stem and cut into desired size before putting it in the soup for 10-15 minutes.

5. Season with salt before serving. 

Note: I have seen some recipes which used dried figs and Chinese almonds. Shall try it next time!

Ham and cheese muffins

Just want to share another muffin recipe that I tried yesterday. I wanted to try baking something savory but not too difficult for me and chanced upon ham and cheese breakfast muffins by this interesting blog "She wears many hats".

Ingredients
1 cup of plain flour
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 ham slices
2 cheese slices
1 egg
3/4 cup fresh milk
3 tbsp olive oil 

Recipe
1. Cut the ham and cheese slices into small pieces and set aside.
2. Put all the dry ingredients into a bowl. Stir and mix well.
3. In another bowl, put in the wet ingredients and whisk till well combined.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl. Gently use a spatula to fold till you do not see traces of flour. Do not overmix.
5. Add ham and cheese and mix to distribute evenly.
6.Fill the cups to about 3/4 full. Bake in oven at 180 degree celcius for 25 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean when inserted in centre of muffin.

Our family enjoyed these muffins and I think this is great for breakfast to go. Will try to make it again! To note, the taste is slightly too flavourful for me. Shall try to reduce the seasonings next time.

Blueberry yoghurt muffins

This week is muffin week as declared by my boy. I will usually prepare simple jam or kaya sandwich for him to bring to school but he requested me to bake for him.  With blueberries and yoghurt in my fridge, I decided to try making muffins. Since the steps are relatively simple, I asked him to join me in making them. He had a good time mixing the ingredients! There are many recipes and I decided to try this recipe from Taste of Home - blueberry yogurt muffins.

Ingredients
1 cup of plain flour
6 tbsp sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup fresh blueberries
1 egg
1/2 cup plain yoghurt
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
2 tbsp fresh milk
3 tbsp olive oil

Recipe
1. Put all the dry ingredients into a bowl. Stir and mix well.
2. In another bowl, put in the wet ingredients and whisk till well combined.
3. Pour the blueberries into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix well. Then pour the wet ingredients into the bowl. Gently use a spatula to fold till you do not see traces of flour. Do not overmix.
4. Fill the cups to about 3/4 full. Bake in oven at 180 degree celcius for 20 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean when inserted in centre of muffin.

Stir fry cabbage with bunashimeiji mushrooms

I like to buy cabbage and cook it nearer to the end of the week. The reason is simply because I only go marketing once a week on weekends. When I first started this whole marketing/cooking, I was unaware of how fast the vegetables will spoil and always ended up throwing some yellowed vegetables. Through experience, now I know cabbage is one of the more lasting vegetables that I can safely leave it in my fridge for a few days and not having to worry about it spoiling. And it's very easy to cook too!

Ingredients
1/2 Beijing cabbage
1 tsp dried shrimps
Chopped garlic
Bunashimeiji mushrooms
Oyster sauce 

Recipe
1. Soak the dried shrimps till soften and cut off the bottom parts of the mushrooms. Cut the cabbage into half. Cut off the thick part of the cabbage and cut the cabbage into slices. (thickness to your liking)
2. Heat up some oil in the wok and put in the chopped garlic and dried shrimps.
3. Let it cook till you can smell the nice fragrance of the dried shrimps.
4. Put in the bunashimeji mushrooms and give it a good stir before putting on the cover to let it cook for a while. 
5. Open the cover and add the cabbage. Mix well and put on the cover again. Allow the cabbage to release the moisture and cook. (The timing will depends on how you prefer the texture to be. My family likes softer texture so I will leave it to cook and check from time to time to ensure it is not dry up. You can add a little water if it is too dry.)
6. Season with oyster sauce according to your taste. Stir well and let it cook for another few minutes before dishing up to serve.

This can be a rather good time saving dish. I must admit sometimes after I add the cabbage in and cover, I will proceed to do other stuffs like washing some dish, seasoning the soup or even checking out my son in the living room. You don't have to keep watching the cabbage being cooked! :) 

Steamed salmon with lemon

This week has been a little hazy on and off and my poor little boy is down with runny nose and cough. So I have been trying to do steam dishes everyday so that it is less heaty for him. Whenever I steam salmon, I will stick to soy sauce and keep it simple as salmon has more flavour compared to other fish. I was wondering if I could try a different variation of steamed salmon and lemon came to my mind. I happened to have it in my fridge as it is very useful for various dishes.

Ingredients
1 Salmon fillet
Lemon slices
Ginger
Spring onion
Sesame oil
Salt
Cooking wine

Sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp cooking wine 
3 tbsp water

Recipe
1. Rub salt over the salmon fillet and pour 1 tsp cooking wine on it. Let it marinate for 5 minutes.
2. Prepare the sauce by mixing the listed ingredients above and set aside.
3. Cut some ginger slices and place them on the steaming plate. This is to prevent the salmon skin from sticking onto the plate. Also cut some ginger strips and chop some spring onions for garnishing.
4. Discard any liquid from the salmon and place the salmon on the steaming plate. Arrange some ginger strips, followed by lemon slices then spring onions.
5. Drizzle some sesame oil, then pour the sauce onto  the salmon.
6. Steam using electric steamer until it is done.

Did you notice my salmon was not a complete piece? I actually asked the uncle from the fish stall to help me cut into 3 portions. It is easy to thaw and I can steam one piece if I want to cook a smaller portion. :)