No Bake Cheesecake Cookie Cup

I made baked cheesecake cups before back in the old days.  Today I wanted to try the no bake version.  I had some ginger snaps in my pantry and it worked well as a base for my cheesecake cookie cups.  I used a fat free blueberry nonfat yogurt which I was hoping for a light tint of blue hue for this cheesecake cup, but guess not.  The yogurt itself was fairly white in color and when mixed with the cream cheese mixture, well as you can see, the end color result of this cheesecake cookie cup.

This recipe yields 9 cheesecake cups and feel free to decorate the top with fresh blueberry or blueberry preserved for colors contrast.  This is one easy dessert to make and kids friendly too.

~Yield 9 cheesecake cups

Ingredients:

9 ginger snaps cookies (as base)

0.125oz unflavored gelatin

1/8 cup boiling water

1 (8oz) cream cheese

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup fat free blueberry nonfat yogurt (or any yogurt of your choice)

9 paper baking cups

Method:

1.  In a medium glass or ceramic bowl, use an electric beaters to blend together cream cheese and sugar until smooth.  Use a spatula and fold in yogurt.  Set aside.

2.  In a small bowl, add in the gelatin and add boiling water.  Stir until gelatin dissolves thoroughly.

3.  Pour the gelatin mixture into the cream cheese mixture and mix until incorporated.

4.  Arrange the baking cups in a muffin tray and add one ginger snap into each cup.  Top with 2 Tbsp. of cream cheese mixture into each.  Divided equally.

5.  Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving.  Optional:  You can top the cheesecake cup with blueberry preserved, or fresh blueberry before serving.

Baked Tilapia with Honey Mustard and Panko

It was a fish day and I was cracking my head for something new to serve my family.  I remembered I did a honey mustard sauce tilapia fish before which my girls loved.  So, I thought I would make the same sauce again except this time I added some crumbs topping.  I used panko and added some seasonings and coated the fish before baking.  I bought the fish on sales for $3.50 per pound and it came with 5 fillets, so for two fillets, it only cost me $1.40.  It was cheaper than the yam leaves dish that I served along this.  I paid $2.93 for a bunch of yam leaves.  But overall, it was still less than $5 for a two dishes meal.

Ingredients:

2 Tilapia fillets, rinsed

2 Tbsp. yellow mustard

2 Tbsp. honey

3/4 cup of Japanese breadcrumbs/ Panko

Seasonings: salt, black pepper, dried parsley, garlic powder, paprika

Method:

1.  Preheat oven to 450'F.

2.  Lined a baking sheet with aluminum foil.  In a bowl, mix mustard and honey together.  In another bowl, add panko and seasonings together, stir to blend well.

3.  Place the fish on the foil and brush the top and bottom with the honey mustard sauce.  Then dip and coat both sides with the panko.

4.  Bake for 8-10 minutes.  Serve warm.

Spaghetti Meat Balls

Did I fool you?  Does it looks like spaghetti meatballs?  If  yes, then you have been fooled.  LOL!  Those were actually cut-out brats!!  You know, with the summer BBQ parties, you might have some leftover brats in your refrigerator or freezer.  If you are tired of pairing the brats with hotdog buns (well if one can), then why not pair it with the spaghetti pasta sauce?

If my picture doesn't entice you enough, I don't know what does.  Because seriously this was very delicious and one of my best spaghetti sauce recipes.  If you tried it, remember to feedback to me ya!

This is the cooked cut-out brats, look like meat balls yeh?

Ingredients:

1 (1lb) package of Luigi Vitelli spaghetti (or any spaghetti brand of your choice)

1 (1 lb 8oz) Ragu super chunky mushroom pasta sauce

1 small yellow onion, diced

4 cloves of garlic, minced

Sweet Red wine of your choice

1/2 tsp. dried basil

6 brats (any variety), cut into pieces

Extra virgin olive oil

Method:

1.  Cut each brat into 7 pieces, so you should have 42 pieces in all.  In a wok, add in a little oil.  Throw in the brats and stir-fry well.  Add in some red wine, cover the wok and let it cook.  Open and stir around until the brats are cooked.  Dish out and set aside in a plate.  Throw the remaining oil.

2.  In a saucepan, cook the spaghetti per package direction until cooked, drain and rinse with cold water.  Set aside.

3.  In a saute pan, in medium heat, add in some extra virgin olive oil.  Add in diced onion, a dash of salt and soften the onion.  Add in garlic, mix well.  Add in some red wine, stir and then add in the pasta sauce.  Stir-well.  When the sauce is hot, add in the cooked brats and dried basil, mix well and turn the heat off.  

4.  Serve with some cooked spaghetti and ladle the pasta sauce with brats on top.  For extra kick, I added my chili in oil (you can add Parmesan cheese/ cheese of your choice) on the pasta sauce for myself and hubby.  Absolutely delicious!

Lazy Egg Tarts

 

When I saw this egg tarts made using puff pastry at Nasi Lemak Lover's blog, I immediately bookmarked it.  Simply because I am lazy and simple or short-cut recipes attract me.  Just so that I had a piece of frozen puff pastry waiting to be used and my girls and I loved loved egg tarts (in any crust), so this recipe came in the right moment.  Each of us had three pieces after it came out of the oven and it was pretty good for a short-cut recipe.  However, I would prefer to use the pie crust for this instead of puff pastry the next time as it couldn't hold lots of filling as I was having difficulty in stretching the thawed puff pastry to fill the muffin hole.  

I would use the custard filling recipe again and make my own crust the next time I feel like eating egg tarts.  Definitely not a bad way to get a quick fix.  However, I would recommend the refrigerated pie crust instead of frozen puff pastry if you don't want to make your own crust and want a quick craving fix..

I saw the recipe at Nasi Lemak Lover and she adapted it from Forbidden Garden.

Ingredients:

Egg custard filling:

240g hot water
100g coarse sugar ( I used 90g granulated sugar)
3 eggs
¼ tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp white vinegar (I used rice wine vinegar)

12pcs frozen square puff pastry, thawed (I used 1 piece of puff pastry, cut into 12 pieces) 


 












Method:

1. Dissolve sugar in hot water, set aside to cool.

2. Break eggs in a mixing bowl, lightly stir.

3. Add in syrup (no 1), vanilla extract and vinegar, lightly stir well to combine.

4. Sift twice, set aside.

5. Divide the puff pastry into 12 pieces and arrange it in a 12 holes muffin pan.

6. Pour egg custard filling in the puff pastry case, about 90% full.  I have some leftover filling which I just pour into a ramekin and bake together with the egg puff pastry.

7. Bake at pre-heated oven at 350'F for 35mins or till golden brown.

8. Remove from oven and leave to cool.

Spicy Beancurd with Chicken

Sometimes I just needed my spicy food!  I could hardly go more than a day without any spicy food.  That's why I always have a bottle of my homemade chili in oil in the refrigerator on days that I cooked non-spicy food so that I could have that as a condiment.  If you are new to my blog and want my chili in oil recipe, you can do a search within my blog on the right panel.

I could proudly say that both of my girls are well trained in handling spicy food now.  They can eat this with no problem.  They can even eat the spicy Korean instant noodle and one day even brave enough to want to sample my chili in oil.  For your information, my chili in oil is extremely spicy and I was shocked that they wanted to try it.  I gave them a dot to try because they asked for it.  They quickly searched for water after they had it, yeah even my 4 years old dare to eat my chili in oil. :D

This dish was easy to make as well, just required an extra step in pan-frying the tofu first.  If you want it healthier, you don't have to pan-fry the tofu.  I did it for the texture and crunch.

Ingredients:

1 skinless and boneless chicken breast, thinly sliced and marinated it with salt, white pepper, cooking wine, sesame oil and cornstarch.

1/2 firm tofu, sliced and pat dry with paper towel

2 scallions, only the white bottom part, thinly sliced

1 small piece of ginger, minced

2 tsp. LKK hoisin sauce (you can use other brand)

2 tsp. LKK chili bean sauce (you can use other brand)

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. sugar

Method:

1.  In a medium heat wok with oil, pan-fry the tofu until golden brown on both sides, dish out and set aside.

2.  In a heated wok, add in some oil.  When heated, add in the ginger and scallion and stir-fry until fragrant.  Add in chicken and stir-fry until cooked.  Add in the fried tofu slices.  Mix well.

3.  Add in the sauces and seasonings.  Stir to mix well.  Do a taste test and adjust accordingly.  Serve hot.

Mixed Veggie and Chicken Thai Style

This could easily be a one dish meal because it had all the goodness in one plate.  Lean protein from the skinless and boneless chicken breast, celery (lower blood pressure, anti-cancer compounds), zucchini (vitamin C), carrot (beta-carotene, good for eyes sight and anti-oxidant) and wood ear fungus (high in iron, good in blood circulation, low in calories and prevention of tumors).  You know, it might be hard to keep track of the nutritional benefits of each fruit/veggie.  But once you know that what fruit/veggie is good for you, just make sure that it's on your lunch or dinner menu often.  Making sure your plate is colorful is important too as different color provides a different nutritional benefit for your body.

Ingredients:

1/2 boneless and skinless chicken breast, cut into small cubes and season with salt, rice wine, pepper and cornstarch

1/2 bowl of dried wood ear fungus, soften in warm water, drain and set aside

3 stalks of celery, wash and cut like pic. above

1 carrot, peeled and thinly cut

1 zucchini, wash and cut into cubes

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 Tbsp. Pantai's chili paste with soy bean oil (Available in the Asian market selling Thai's product)

Fish sauce to taste

1 tsp.dark soy sauce

Method:

1.  In a heated wok, add in your choice of cooking oil.  When hot, add in marinated chicken and garlic and stir-fry until cooked.  Add in zucchini and celery and carrot and stir-fry well.

2.  Add in wood ear and stir-fry well.  Add in chili paste in soy bean oil.  Add a little water if needed.  Season to taste with fish sauce and add in the dark soy sauce.  Fry to blend well and serve.

2-2-3-4-5 Sticky Ribs

 

I was bad at cutting through the bones, that's why my ribs were in big pieces.  I tried to cut it into half but my cleaver just won't cut through.  So, I gave up before my cleaver ended out with more teeth.  LOL!  Anyway, I bought some ribs when it was on sales and I wanted to try something different instead of cooked it with Bak Kut Teh and I remembered this 2-2-3-4-5 Braised Chicken dish that I cooked before which I adapted from a ribs recipe.  So, since I had some ribs now why not gave it a try and this dish was born.

When this dish was cooking, it didn't smell too good in the house because of the vinegar.  But once it was cooked, I couldn't taste the vinegar at all.  Tasted pretty good to me.  But since it was cooked in an hour to an hour and half, the meat was not fall off the bones tender.

Lastly, Happy 4th of July to those who celebrated!!!

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. Shaoxing rice wine

2 Tbsp. Chinkiang vinegar

3 Tbsp. white sugar

4 Tbsp. Kikkoman soy sauce

5 Tbsp. water

1 piece of pork loin back ribs, cut into pieces

Method:

In a pot, add in the 2-2-3-4-5 ingredients and let it boil.  When boiling, add in the cut ribs, mix well with the sauce.  Turn the heat to low and let it simmer for at least an hour or until the sauce dry up and coated with the ribs.  Serve with rice.