Kerabu seafood

This is an easy to make kerabu and it tastes good too. You just have to chopped all the ingredients, make the sauce and boil the seafood. Mix all of them together and Voila....the kerabu is ready to be eaten.

Here are the ingredients:

 
- Prawns and squids (boil in hot boiling water for a few minutes)
- 1 tomato diced
- 3 long beans, chopped into 1/2 cm
- 1 onion, chopped finely
- 1/2 cucumber, diced
- 2/3 small chillies (depend how spicy you want the kerabu to be)
- A handful chopped coriander leaves

sauce:
- 3-4 teaspoon fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 4/5 limes (use the juice)

(mix all the ingredients for the sauce altogether)

* Mix both the sauce and the first ingredients together and the kerabu is ready to be served.

Aubergine Parmigiana

Ingredients

• 3 large firm aubergines
• olive oil
• 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
•  1 clove of regular garlic, peeled and finely sliced
• 1 heaped teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 x 400g tins good-quality plum tomatoes or 1kg fresh ripe tomatoes
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• a little vinegar
• a large handful of fresh basil
• 4 large handfuls of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 handfuls of dried breadcrumbs
• a little fresh oregano, leaves chopped

optional:
• 1 x 150g ball of buffalo mozzarella

This classic northern Italian recipe is a great way to serve aubergines. By layering them with Parmesan and tomatoes and then baking them you get an absolutely moreish, scrumptious vegetable dish. Great served with all sorts of roasted meats and with roasted fish as well.

- First things first: remove the stalks from the aubergines, slice them up into 1cm thick slices, and put to one side. Whether you’re using a griddle pan or a barbecue, get it really hot. 

 

- Put 2 or 3 glugs of olive oil into a large pan on a medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and dried oregano and cook for 10 minutes, until the onion is soft and the garlic has a tiny bit of colour. 

 

-If you’re using tinned tomatoes, break them up, and if you’re using fresh tomatoes (which will obviously taste sweeter and more delicious, if they’re in season), very quickly prick each one and put them into a big pan of boiling water for 40 seconds. Then remove the skins, 

 

- Dice the tomatoes.  Add the tomato flesh or tinned tomatoes to the onion, garlic and oregano. Give the mixture a good stir, then put a lid on the pan and simmer slowly for 15 minutes.
 

-Grill the aubergines on both sides until lightly charred – you may have to do them in batches, as they probably won’t all fit into your griddle pan in one go. As each batch is finished, remove them to a tray and carry on grilling the rest until they’re all nicely done. 

 

- When the tomato sauce is reduced and sweet, season it carefully with salt, pepper and a tiny swig of wine vinegar, and add the basil. You can leave the sauce chunky or you can purée it.

 

-Put in a small layer of tomato sauce, then a thin scattering of Parmesan, followed by a single layer of aubergines in a casserole. Repeat these layers until you’ve used all the ingredients up, finishing with a little sauce and another good sprinkling of Parmesan.

 

- Toss the breadcrumbs in olive oil with a little freshly chopped oregano and sprinkle them on top of the Parmesan. Sometimes the dish is served with torn-up mozzarella on top, which is nice too.
 

-Place the dish in the oven and bake at 190°C/375°F/gas 5 for half an hour until golden, crisp and bubbly. It’s best eaten straight away, but it can also be served cold.

Courtesy from Jamie Oliver:

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pasta-recipes/melanzane-alla-parmigiana-aubergine

Banana Milk Smoothie

This smoothie is perfect to have for breakfast. Refreshing, energy booster and definitely healthy. Give a try and you will love it!!!

Ingredients:

- 3 Large Bananas (Cavendish)

- 2 Cups of fresh milk (Low fat Milk).

- 1 Tbs honey

Method: 

* Blend all the ingredients together and ready to be served.

Carrot and Orange Smoothie

Here is my new attempt of making carrot juice with orange juice plus a little bit of low fat milk. The result- yummylicious and refreshing. Give a shot and you will be surprised to see the result:

- 3 large size carrots
- 1 cup of orange juice
- 1/2 cup of low fat milk

* Blend the carrots in the juicer. Mix the carrot juice with orange juice and milk. The smoothie is ready for you to enjoy.

Ikea's Cream Sauce for Meatballs

This is the sauce that I made to go along with the meatballs. It turned to be quite good and I used Wosteschire sauce instead of soy sauce, which did not make that much difference.

Ingredients:
1/2 c cream
1 c beef stock
1 tsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp butter
salt, white pepper to taste
Directions:
In a skillet, melt butter.

When butter is melted, sprinkle flour into skillet. Stir to make a smooth roux.

Slowly add beef stock, stirring to keep the sauce smooth.

Add cream. Add soy sauce.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and allow to simmer until desired

Courtesy:Gretchen Grant;

http://www.gretchencooks.com/recipes/763_Ikeas_Cream_Sauce_for_Meatballs

Köttbullar (Swedish Meatballs, Ikea Style)

All meatballs fans out there, here is the ultimate recipe for you to try:

This is my first attempt making the Ikea Style meatballs and I must say that the result was not disappointing at all. I decided to put the meatballs in the oven rather than cook in the skillet as I prefer to use less oil and the fat in the mince beef has helped to keep them moist while grilling.  You can actually make these meatballs and the sauce at home at effortlessly and they taste almost the same like Ikea one (depends on what you put in the ingredients and mine one I add smoked chicken to give extra flavour to them)

Ingredients:

Servings:

4-6

• 4 -5 tablespoons butter
• 2 1/2 tablespoons onions, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup fine breadcrumb (unseasoned)
•   1/2 cup milk, divided
• 2 cold boiled potatoes, mashed
• 400g ground beef
• 3 slices smoked chicken (dice small)
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon white pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice

Directions:

Prep Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 35 mins

1. In a skillet, melt 2 Tbsp butter, heating until melted and just starting to brown. Add onion to skillet, saute until onion is golden.
2. To the bread crumbs, add 2 Tbsp milk to moisten.
3. In a large bowl, combine beef, smoked chicken, egg. Add onion, mashed potatoes, and moistened breadcrumbs. Add spices (salt, pepper, allspice). Add remaining milk a little at a time; stop before the mixture gets gloppy. If the meat mixture gets too gooey to form nice, neat meatballs, add a more breadcrumbs.
4. Use a pair of spoons rinsed in water and shape the meat mixture into small round balls.
5. In a large skillet, heat remaining butter over medium heat. Add meatballs to skillet, being careful not to crowd the pan. Shake periodically so that the meatballs don't develop flat spots. Cook until meatballs are done through.

This is the link for the original recipe:
http://www.food.com/recipe/k-ttbullar-swedish-meatballs-ikea-style-424503#ixzz1RJ044bD0

Apple Banana Smoothie

I started the day today with a nice healthy breakfast, Apple Banana Smoothie (first try out smoothie from our new juicer given by Mr Hubby for our anniversary present). The result was an amazing and refreshing juice, all the ingredients used give a balance taste and texture which really took us by surprised. We had this smoothie along with cinnamon toast which made the breakfast even better.  Do try it if you are a big fan of juice and smoothie. And this is the result of our first attempt:

 

Scale ingredients to 2 servings

- 2 frozen, peeled and chopped banana
- 1 cup orange juice
- 2 peeled, cored and chopped Gala apple
- 0.5 cup milk

Combine ingredients in a blender until smooth, pour into tall glasses.

Courtesy of: http://www.drinksmixer.com/recipes/15u8t50/