Cuisine & Culture the Chinese Family Way
How to make a Perfect Smore! We just had the most perfect weekend! Sunshine and a lot of outdoor activities! With the promise of nice weather, we quickly hurried down to our local supermarket to stock up on BBQ food, flour to make pitta pockets and the most important thing – buying a BBQ pit!
Earlier this week, I made a batch of yummy delicious scones and now I have tried out another recipe from Cathryn Dresser’s Let’s Bake cookbook. This time I am making pitta pockets. They are great for stuffing your favourite foods and enjoying for lunch or dinner. Besides that, you can also cut into strips and use them to dip in to your favourite dips or soup.
This salad recipe is for Red Tractor #RTChallenge. This is my fifth recipe using Red Tractor Assured ingredients they provided. Please click here to learn more about Red Tractor and their food assurance scheme. Do look out for the Red Tractor logo on a huge range of products. The logo will appear in a variety of positions. It could be on the front, back or side of the pack.
This time I am using up all the salad and vegetables from the hamper that are left in my fridge!
My children are really learning their way around the kitchen having helped me on numerous cooking and baking tasks. They both love to help out especially with the baking. Sometimes it is hard to think what to bake with them that needs minimal adult supervision. So whenever there is a review for a children’s cookbook, I am always keen to try it.
This recipe is for Red Tractor #RTChallenge. This is my fourth recipe for the Red Tractor challenge. This time round I am baking pizza. I had slightly modified my Chinese steamed bun recipe to make this pizza base. Using strong white flour makes the base firmer and chewier. If you prefer less chewy, then add more plain flour. Instead of milk, you could use water instead. As I mentioned I think milk gives a nicer flavour/fragrance.
This recipe is for Red Tractor #RTChallenge. This is my third recipe to cook rhubarb crumble using the hamper full of delicious Red Tractor Assured ingredients they provided. We used the British grown rhubarb from Waitrose and British butter from Morrisons. My husband took this recipe from BBC Goodfood but modified it slightly.
This Chinese Almond Cookie recipe is for Red Tractor #RTChallenge. This is my second recipe using the hamper full of delicious Red Tractor Assured ingredients they provided. This time I am baking Chinese Almond Cookies that do not require butter. This is commonly consumed during Chinese New Year. I have not bake this recipe (provided by my sister) for years since I had my son! That was six years ago. This time around, I have my little helper Ms C to help me to bake.
Making bread is one form of baking that I always like to do with my children. It’s such a simple food yet the smell never fails to make your mouth water. Ms C loves her bread and the only bread she eats is plain! We can’t get her to eat any other bread, like cheesy bread or even bread with sesame seeds. So this half term, we made bread together to go along with her soup.
Having bought too much strong white bread flour and having some leftover rosemary, I decided to make Rosemary Focaccia Italian Bread. I also added chopped piquanté peppers on top as I had won 6 jars and I in need to use them up!
Last year, I made Chinese Steamed Buns – Man Tou using the Food Network website. So last week I went to my Chinese friend’s house and she taught me her own recipe. She had tried a few recipes but they were not as good as the ones sold in her own country. She had also tried a number of different brands of plain flour but found that the Aldi plain flour is whiter than other brand. Also it is cheap at only 49p. Also by adding strong white flour, it makes the bun spongier. She also taught me a new way to steam buns. I saw it on internet before but I dared not try it until now. Since she taught me once, I have been trying it out and it was great but just slightly oily.
Earlier this year, I wrote about Singapore BBQ Pork Slice which are available all year round and they are like pork jerky except that it has been barbecued. It’s one of my favourite snacks. Whenever I am in Singapore, I will buy at least 200g each time and finish it in no time! They are sweet, chewy, meaty and delicious. They are ready to be eaten and can be kept for a couple of days. They are best consumed at room temperature rather than cold.
Green bean soup was never one of my favourite desserts until I came to UK as this is the only dessert I know how to cook. Fairly simple! Soak the mung beans / green beans for a couple of hours or overnight before placing them into the slow cooker, with a 2 to 1 water to bean ratio. Cook it till soft and mushy. After which, add rock sugar or brown sugar. It is then ready to serve.
Can you believe that next Sunday is Mother’s Day! Hope you have thought of getting something for her soon. If not, take a look at my gift guide that I have and will review.
C’est Ca Panel Apron £22.95
The apron consists of seven individual panels of fabric which are edged with binding all intricately sewn together by expert machinists in their Norwich based factory. The signature Panel Apron offers a stylish alternative to the classic kitchen apron shape, which they also produce.
Last week, my mum and sister arrived in the UK and it has been great to spend some quality time together. My mum loves to cook Chinese meals and spending time with her reminded me of her cautions to eat eggs in moderation. She has always told me to just eat the egg white and leave the yolk as the yolk contains too much cholesterol. My mum has high cholesterol and this was the advice given to her by her dietician.
Mums always like to have the last word and so I can’t ever win by reasoning with her. But in fact, egg yolks are packed with goodness like calcium, iron, phosphorus, zinc, thiamine, B6, folate, pantothenic acid, omega-3 fatty acids, B12, vitamins A, D and E. There is an extensive list of nutrients just in the egg yolk itself. On the other hand, egg whites are only packed with proteins and water.
It is almost the time of the year to show off your flipping skills as Pancake Day (Shrove Tuesday) is fast approaching. Shrove Tuesday is the day preceding Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. In the UK, traditionally people eat pancakes on that day hence it is called Pancake Day.
