Monday, June 14, 2010

Sweet Sticky Rice Dumpling with Red Bean Filling


Dragon Boat festival's coming up....I thought of practising my sticky rice dumpling making skills from sc's mama, just like how I did last year (Savoury Sticky Rice Dumpling with Step by Step Illustration).

However, I was too late! SC's mama has done her dumplings...and look what we've received from her!
Sweet sticky rice dumplings with red bean fillings!
Sorry for posting no recipe, guys, I'll check if she'd be willing to share her recipe ;)

Do you like sweet sticky rice dumplings?
How do you eat yours? With sugar? As is? Hot? Cold?
Last weekend was super hot, stuffy and balmy, so we had ours cold...and...


...drizzled with Maple syrup!

The savoury girl inside of me wanted to hate this sweet sticky rice dumpling...but I must admit that I was beginning to enjoy it...a little too much ;)

PS. The maple syrup was sc's brilliant idea. So much for saying not liking sweets, sc ^_^'

What's Yellow Orange Purple Green and Makes Me Really Happy? Le Creuset Spatula Set!


It's a bright summer day just after lunch...and I was still hungry...
Had a walk in Pacific Place's Great supermarket and wanted to buy my after-lunch-snack...
a. A box of sushi
b. A roll of kebab
c. Triple O's burger
d. ....

Wait! After-lunch snack or a second lunch?
Being sensible, SC vetoed all of my suggestions, and raging with hormones plus starving, I was really pissed!!!

Until I saw this pretty set from Le Creuset.

After selecting my colors, made a HK$368 worth of damage to my credit card, and placed the set in my bag...I was a happy girl again and willing to settle for 2 pieces of mini chicken pastry instead of whichever huge second lunch I was trying to get.

^_^'

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

A Hearty Snack - Mashed Potatoes with "Chili Con Carne" and Melted Cheese


This is the aftermath of a chili dog and mashed potato dinner...one heck of a hearty snack.

The hot dogs and buns are longgg gone, but I am left with a big bowl of "chili con carne" (quote marks as I am pretty sure that my version isn't authentic) and mashed potatoes. What to do? Put them together, top them with grated cheese...and nuke 'it to melt the cheese (I thought of putting them in the oven for a beautiful golden brown finish...but I worried that I would dry my mashed potatoes...I might try that next time).

Here's how I made my easy version of everything.

Mashed Potatoes
(serves two as side dish)

- 2 large potatoes, cleaned, peeled and cubed (around 1 x 1 x 1 cm)
- 3 tbsp butter, or more? (uh huh)
- a dash of milk
- salt, pepper, nutmeg

Place potato cubes in a microwave safe bowl, add a dash of milk and microwave on high for 15 minutes. Check if the potatoes are soft enough, microwave for 5 or more minutes if needed. Once the potato cubes are soft enough, mash them with a fork, stir in butter bit by bit, season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

"Chili Con Carne"
(yields quite a lot, depends on how you want to use it, as a topping for hotdog/potatoes or...eat it with rice?)
I apologize for not being able to find the source of this recipe... T_T
- 1/2 lb ground beef
- half an onion, cubed
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 4 smallish fresh tomatoes, cubed
- 1 green bell pepper, cubed
- 10 pieces of sliced, jalapeno from a jar, chopped (I used El Paso)
- 1 small can of tomato paste
- 1 can of mixed beans
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp all spice
- 2 pieces of cloves
- olive oil, butter, hot water (or chicken or beef stock), salt, cayenne pepper

Saute garlic and onion in olive oil with a touch of butter, add ground beef, add chopped tomatoes and green bell pepper, let cook for a bit, add tomato paste, add a bit of hot water or stock (depends on how thick you want it to be, and depends on how long you want to cook it, since I plan to make a speedy one, I didn't add much water to the mixture), bring to boil, add spices and seasonings, add mixed beans, cook until heated through, adjust seasoning if necessary, add chopped jalapeno at the end, mix well, and serve.

I used a mix of grated mozzarela and sharp cheddar for this snack. After the cheese melted and everything's heated through...

Who was I kidding? One tiny ramekin is never enough!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Sausage & Cheese Savoury Pancakes


Love pancakes to death, but I just can't have only sweets for breakfast...but pan frying eggs, bacon and all the savoury frills would be too troublesome for my lazy ass. My lazy solution is...to throw savoury bits in and make savoury pancakes ^_^

These may look like ordinary sweet pancakes...

Wait 'til you get to see what's inside...

Recipe
- 1 cup self raising flour
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp chicken stock powder
- 1 tsp dry mixed herbs (thyme, rosemary, oregano, sage)
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 cup milk
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil (or melted butter)
- 1/2 cup chopped sausages (I used Maid brand cheese cocktail sausages)
- 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl, wet in another. Make a well in the middle of dry ingredients, add wet ingredients, mix well, add chopped sausages and grated cheddar cheese. Heat up a non stick pan to medium heat, pour a ladleful of batter, (butter/oil isn't necessary for non stick pan) pan fry until you see bubbles and the edges dried out a little, flip, let cook for a bit and transfer to a plate. Repeat until all the batter's done. Serve with butter and if you like sweet-savoury flavor combo, maple syrup ^_^

Fluffy pancakes with savoury bits...


My kinda weekend breakfast ^_^

The sausage pieces are only visible from the butt of the pancakes :D

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Friday, June 4, 2010

I Can't Order Any Other Thing! Cinta J's Indonesian Yellow Rice Set


I've (another) bad habit I can't shake off.

Once I love something from a place, I can't bear to order anything else.
This Indonesian yellow rice lunch set is one of those things.
I've been to this place many times, planning to order its other yummy treats, but in the end, I couldn't. It's always the yellow rice set.

Yummy Indonesian yellow rice topped with sliced omelette and crispy shallot, served with deep fried chicken wing, spiced beef, roasted peanuts with salted fish, curry veggie, telor balado (hard boiled egg with chilli paste), extra curry sauce on the side. The drink is bottomless and you get dessert as well (refreshing sliced watermelon for today).

The set sent me straight to food heaven. Maybe one day I can order something else, maybe. I can't promise ^_^'


SC on the other hand, almost can't order anything that's the same as me unless there's really no other choice. Today he ordered this garlic rice set, with pickled veggie, chicken ala king, spiced beef, sauteed vegetables, served with soup of the day (winter melon and carrot soup) and sliced watermelon. Everything on the plate was lovely and tasty!

The lady owner is Indonesian and she still remembers me, although I haven't been there for more than a year! I felt so touched T_T things like this rarely happen in Hong Kong...at least not for me.

Do you have an ordering habit you'd like to share?

Cinta J
Shop G-4, Malaysia Bldg, 69 Jaffe Rd
灣仔謝斐道69號馬來西亞大廈地下
Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2529 6622

(for lunch, it's better to make an advance booking)