Roast chicken is a great dish to serve your family and seldom gets rejected unless you serve it too often. The chicken is very easy to prepare and there are many ways to do it. Below is the normal method I use using easily available ingredients found in the kitchen.

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken
5 pips of garlic
2 small red onions
3 cm of ginger
3 tablespoons of light soy sauce
1 tablespoon of sesame oil
Salt and pepper
Optional: Potatoes, carrots, celery, leek, and whole green chili

Preparation:

1. Clean the chicken and rub the skin with salt, pepper and the light soy sauce.
2. Pound the red onion, garlic and ginger into a paste. Rub the chicken with the paste. I usually put the paste under the chicken skin to ensure the flavor is absorbed into the flesh.

3. Next, rub the chicken with the sesame oil and put aside in the refrigerator to marinade for at least 5 hours.

4. Set the oven at about 465 o F and bake the chicken until it is cooked through. Before putting the chicken into the oven, I usually scrape off the onion paste first and put it inside the chicken cavity instead. The cooking time will depend on the size of the chicken and will take from 1 hour to 1.5 hours. Use a sharp knife or a fork to pierce the chicken thigh to ensure the liquid runs clear.

To make the dish more complete, you can add some vegetables like potatoes and carrots into the baking tray to cook together with the chicken.

In my haste to serve the chicken, I forgot to take a picture of the chicken when I took it out from the oven. It was my eldest son who reminded me to take a picture while I was busy cutting it up for serving and he was busy eating small bits and pieces of it. Enjoy the dish!

Once in awhile, I like to make this dish, as it is very quick and easy to prepare. It normally takes an hour to complete the entire preparation and cooking. It is a healthy dish as it contains a generous dose of lycopene, which comes from the tomato sauce. Lycopene is a powerful antioxidant and the beef is a good source of protein and iron.

Ingredients:

500 g of ground beef
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
½ cup of minced large onion
½ cup of diced potatoes (boiled to soften)
1 tablespoon of cornstarch
1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
½ cup of tomato paste or ketchup
½ cup of diced fresh tomatoes
3 cups of pasta sauce (I like to use spaghetti sauce too)
1 cup of chicken stock or plain water
Salt, pepper and sugar to taste
Cooking oil for frying
Chopped parsley for garnishing (optional)

Preparation:

1. Heat about 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan and fry the garlic and onions until brown and soften. You may use garlic powder instead to get the same taste.

2. Mix the fried garlic and onion into the ground beef. Add the boiled diced potatoes, cornstarch, oyster sauce, soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste.

3. Mix everything together and refrigerate for about half an hour.
4. Wet your hands and start to shape the meatballs according to your desired size.
5. Heat 3 tablespoons of cooking oil in a non-stick frying pan and brown the meatballs over medium heat.

6. In a saucepan, mix together the pasta or spaghetti sauce, the tomato paste and the chicken stock and bring to a boil.
7. After browning, drop the meatballs into the sauce above. Simmer the meatballs until they are cooked through.
8. Add the diced tomatoes and season to taste with salt, pepper and sugar.

9. For garnishing, you can add the chopped parsley.

Serve the meatballs with rice, spaghetti or pita bread. You can also add in diced carrots, celery, potatoes, green peas, pumpkins and etc. to make it a wholesome dish.

I like to make these as treats for my kids in substitute of making cookies. It is a very easy recipe as the pastry can be bought from the supermarket and this will save you a lot of time.

I normally prepare two types of fillings for the pastry. The first one is a vegetarian curry potato filling and second is using minced beef or chicken with pasta sauce.

Puff Pastries with Two Types of Fillings

Curry Potato Filling
2 medium sized potatoes (peeled and cut into small cubes)
½ of a large onion (diced)
1-2 tablespoon of curry powder (according to personal taste)
Salt, sugar and pepper to taste
½ cup chicken stock (optional)

Preparation:

1. Heat about 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan and fry the onions until soften.
2.  Stir in the curry powder and the diced potatoes.
3. Add the chicken stock or use water. Cover the pan to let the potatoes cook until tender. Add more liquid if necessary.
4. Add the salt, sugar and pepper to taste.
5. Once the potatoes are tender, switch off the heat.
6. Transfer to a plate to cool down before using.
7. Besides potatoes, you can substitute or add peas, cauliflowers and carrots. You can also make it non-vegetarian by adding minced meat.

Minced Meat with Pasta Sauce
300 g of minced meat (your choice of meat)
½ of a large onion (diced)
1 cup of pasta sauce (spaghetti sauce can also be used)
Salt, sugar and pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan.
2.  Stir fry the onion until soften and add in the meat.
3. Fry for a few minutes until the meat has browned.
4. Pour in the pasta sauce. Add the salt, sugar and pepper to taste.
5. Cover the pan and let the meat cooked through. Add some water if it is too dry.
6. When the meat has been cooked through, switch off the heat.
7.  Transfer to a plate and let it cool down before using.

To make the puff pastry:
1. Roll out the pastry and use either of the fillings. You can make any shapes that you want. Bake the pastry as directed on the packaging, normally at about 347 degrees Fahrenheit for 15-25 minutes until golden.
2. It taste better when eaten warm.

Imade the following wonton soup one Sunday afternoon and my daughter loved it so much including her eldest brother. I plan to make more in the future.

Ingredients

Supermarket bought wonton skin / dumpling pastry
100 g minced chicken
100 g minced pork
50 g minced prawn
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch powder
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Salt and pepper for seasoning
Some chicken stock for the soup base
A few pieces of sliced ginger
Chopped coriander leaves and spring onions for garnishing

Preparation

1. Mix together the minced chicken, pork and prawn in a bowl. Add the soy sauce, oyster sauce, cornstarch powder, sesame oil, salt and pepper. Mix well and put aside for about half and hour.
2. Take one wonton skin ( I actually prefer the dumpling pastry as it is firmer) and place about one teaspoon of the meat mixture at the center. Dab some water (or you can use one beaten egg white) on the outer rim of the wonton skin. Fold it in half ensuring that it is sealed properly. Complete the rest of the mixture. See the picture below for the ready to cook wontons.

3. Bring the chicken stock to a boil together with the sliced ginger.
4. When it is boiling, drop the wontons one by one into the soup and simmer for about 10 minutes until they are cooked through. Season the soup with salt and pepper (to taste).

5. Dish out the wontons into individual serving bowls and garnish with the chopped coriander and spring onions. Serve warm.

Other ways to cook the wontons or dumplings are to steam or deep fry them. Give it a try and see how your family likes it.

Rice is the staple food of Malaysians and for other Asian countries as well. Normally, the cooked plain rice is served with several other dishes like fried local vegetables, chicken, meat or seafood cooked in gravy or spices like curry. The rice becomes very delicious to eat when accompanied with other nice dishes.

However, if you are lazy and do not want to cook so many things, you can change the plain rice to something very tasty and delicious. Hence, I came up with this recipe called the ‘Easy Baked Cheesy Rice’.

Easy Baked Cheesy Rice

Ingredient:

4 cups of cooked rice
150 g of minced chicken meat
½ of a large onion (diced finely)
1 tablespoon curry powder
1/3 cup of seedless raisins
½ cup of orange juice
1 tablespoon of grated orange rind
1 teaspoon Maggi seasoning powder
Salt to taste
½ cup of shredded cheddar cheese
½ cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
Slice almonds for garnishing

Preparation:

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan or wok.
2. Stir fry the onion until soften and add in the minced chicken meat.
3. Once the meat has brown, add in the curry powder and stir.
4. Next, add in the rice and mix well. Pour in the orange juice and add the orange rind and the raisins.
5. Season to taste with the seasoning powder and salt.
6. Stir fry for a few more minutes and turn off the heat.
7. Transfer the rice to a baking or casserole dish. Sprinkle the cheeses on top and cover with an aluminium foil.
8. Baked at 375 o F for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the cheese has melted. Do not over baked as the rice will become too dry.
9. Garnish with the sliced almonds on top and serve warm.

The ‘Heavenly Peach Cream’ dessert recipe is inspired by the famous British TV personality and celebrity cook, Nigella Lawson. If you have ever watched her show, she seems to make cooking and entertaining a piece of cake. Her cooking is always done efficiently with minimum fuss.

Therefore, inspired by her skills and the deliciously looking end product, I decided to come up with my own dessert recipe. The peach can be substituted with other fruits like mango, strawberries and raspberries.

Heavenly Peach Cream Dessert

Ingredients:

The cream mix
250 ml of whipping cream
125 g of Philadelphia cream cheese
1-2 tablespoon of sugar (according to personal taste)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

The peach syrup
1 can of peach (e.g. Delmonte)
1 cup brown sugar
1-2 tablespoon of cornstarch (mix with a little bit of water)

Toppings (optional)
Some ground peanuts or almonds
Raisins
Crumbled digestive biscuits

Prepare the syrup:
1. Prepare the syrup first by separating the peaches from the liquid.
2. Pour the liquid into a pan and heat up to boil.
3. Add in the brown sugar and cornstarch mixture.
4. Bring to a boil, stirring often.
5. Turn off the heat when the liquid has thickened to a thick syrupy mixture.
6. Transfer to a bowl to cool down.
7. Cut up the peaches into small cubes and put aside.

The recipes featured here are all easy to prepare and suitable for the entire family. They are delicious and nutritious at the same time. The pasta has a slightly Asian touch with the addition of the shiitake mushrooms. You can use similar substitutes like using wild or button mushrooms to replace the shiitake mushrooms.

There are three recipes featured here. The first is ‘Fusilli Pasta with Carbonara Sauce’ where you can substitute the fusilli with other types of pasta. Second is a simple homemade strawberry shake. The strawberries can be substituted with your favorite fruits like mango, banana, pineapple, peach, etc. The third recipe is not to be eaten and describes the process of making a plastic badge.

Fusilli Pasta with Carbonara Sauce

Ingredients:
100g fusilli pasta (boil in water until tender and drained)
20g slice meat (chicken, beef, pork, sausages, depends on your choice
10g shiitake mushroom (soaked and sliced finely)
10g Parmesan cheese (optional)
7g large onion (minced finely)
3g garlic (minced finely)
5 ml olive oil (for frying)
Egg white from 1 chicken egg (beaten slightly with a fork)
Heavy cream (half and half)
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and fry the large onion and garlic until soften and golden in color.
2. Mix in the sliced meat and shiitake mushroom and fry for a few minutes.
3. Pour in the heavy cream and let it simmer for five minutes.
4. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Mix in the cooked pasta and thicken the sauce by a adding in the beaten egg white and parmesan cheese. The cheese is optional as it may not suit the Asian taste-buds.
6. Serve immediately.

Homemade strawberry shake

Ingredients:
250g strawberries
1 tablespoon yoghurt (low fat if you prefer)
250 ml low fat milk
Sugar or honey to taste
Ice-cubes

1. Mix all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
2. To serve, pour into a tall glass and decorate with a strawberry fruit.
3. Add more ice-cubes if necessary.

The next recipe is a craft that you can make with your kids. It is a recipe to make a plastic badge and it is not to be eaten. You need to prepare a saucepan, a sieve and a safety pin.

How to make a plastic badge (craft)

Ingredients:
300 ml skimmed milk
2 tablespoons vinegar

1. Pour the milk into a saucepan and heat it.
2. When it is warm (not boiling), mix in the vinegar.
3. Keep stirring the mixture until a plastic (the casein) forms in the milk. It looks white and rubbery.
4. Pour the milk through a sieve into a big bowl. Use a spoon to gather the casein together into a lump.
5. Take the casein and form it into your desired shape (e.g. round shape). Fix the safety pin to one side (the back) and leave the whole thing to dry and harden. This will take a few days at room temperature.
6. Once it has hardened, paint the badge according to your desired color and pattern.
7. This recipe makes two plastic badges.