Simple Cooking Ideas

With big cities like New York requiring restaurants to eliminate trans fats from their foods, restaurateurs and consumers alike are seeking a healthful, versatile alternative to oils high in harmful trans fats. Increasingly, they are finding the solution in an age-old natural product – palm oil.

In 2006, governing bodies in New York passed laws requiring restaurants to eliminate trans fats from the oils they use in food preparation. According to the Food and Drug Administration, trans fats – which are made when manufacturers add hydrogen to vegetable oil to prolong shelf life and improve the flavor and stability of foods – raises LDL (bad) cholesterol.
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It’s time to spring into the salad season, and a good way to go is with Mediterranean flavors. They’ve taken root in this country and small wonder — ingredients like olive oil, garlic, grains, seafood and fresh tomatoes just seem to belong together. Marinating and grilling are among the Mediterranean techniques that deliver delightful dishes, including interesting salads with a touch of sophistication.

Americans love fresh tomatoes in salads, so it’s fortunate fresh tomatoes from Florida are at the peak of their season right now. Incorporating them into Mediterranean-style salads seems appropriate because, of course, tomatoes were originally from the Americas.

Following their introduction to Europeans by New World explorers, tomatoes gradually won acceptance and today, fresh tomatoes are a staple in the Italian diet. Quite often they’re paired with pasta. In this case, cheese tortellini get together with tangy-sweet tomatoes, fresh greens and peas to make a salad that’s great on its own, on a buffet table or as a side for grilled salmon or steak.
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Ginseng is widely known for its medicinal value as well as an anti-oxidant which keeps the body cells rejuvenated. I use Korean ginseng roots with dry “wai san” (dioscorea yam) , yok chook and kei chee (wolfberry) and red dates for this nourishing soup. All these herbs are easily available in Chinese medical hall.

Ingredients:

Half a kampong chicken, cut into big pieces
25 gm Korean ginseng roots, bought in a small bundle
25 gm dry wai san
25 gm yok chok
15 gm kee chee
10 red dates
2 litres water
salt to taste

Method:

Wash the herbs in running water and put in the claypot together with water to boil. Add in the chicken and simmer over low heat for 3 hours. Add salt to taste. Serve hot

For busy mothers, please do not put off by the length of time to boil this soup. I always advise my daughters to put all the ingredients in a slow cooker and turn it on before they go to work and when they come back from work, they will have nutritious pot of herbal soup waitng for them.

Have you ever bought a loaf of bread and after a few days , you just can’t finish it and throw it away as it starts getting mouldy? Happens in my family all the time. Well, instead of throwing the bread away, you can keep the bread in the fridge. When you have a little spare time , you can prepare bread pudding with mixed dried fruits and and mixed peels.

Ingredients:

4 slices brown bread
2 1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup mixed dried fruits and mixed peels
Butter
1/2 teaspoon each vanilla and nutmeg
3 eggs
2 tablespoon sugar

Method:

Trim crusts from bread, butter each slice and cut each piece diagonally into 2 triangles. Arrange one layer of triangles, overlapping them slightly on the centre of a heat proof dish.Place second layer of triangles ( the opposite away ) on top of the first layer.

Beat together eggs, sugar. milk and vanilla and pour half of this custard mixture over bread, let it stand for 10 minutes to allow bread to soak up some of the milk mixtures

Whisk remaining half of the egg mixture again, add the mixed fruits and peels. Pour into dish. Sprinkle top of the custard with a little nutmeg.

Stand dish in a large baking tray. Pour in enough water to come half way up the sides of dish. Bake in moderate slow oven for 40 -45 minutes or until set

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Here is another delicacy of glutinous rice. It can be found in popular stalls selling kueh , cakes and pancakes. Do try this dish if got a little spare time.

Ingredients: Serve 5- 6

500 gm glutinous rice
100 gm chicken- diced
1 cup dried shrimps
4 pieces dried mushroom
4 shallots - sliced
3 pip garlics - crushed
3 cups water
salt, pepper and light soya sauce
chopped spring onions and parsley
5 tablespoon oil

Method:

Soak glutinous rice for half an hour. Wash and drain in colander. Soak mushroom till soft and diced.Washed prawns and discard any grits or shell. Season chicken with a little soya sauce and a pinch of salt.

In a wok , add 2 tablespoon oil and lightly brown garlic and onion. add chicken, mushrooms and shrimps. Stir and fry until they are well mix and chicken is cooked. Dish out and put aside Add the remaining 3 tablespoon oil on the wok. When hot, add in the rice. Stir and fry until the oil is mixed and well adsorbed into the rice. Add all the fried ingredients and mix well using a “lifting movement” with a pair of chopsticks, with moderate heat as the grains are mixed and lifted. Add water alittle at a time in between, cover the wok and stir occasionally and wherever water is added.This is to prevent grains from sticking to the wok and getting burnt. After all the water has been used, cover the wok and turn to low heat, and the grains will be well cook on its own steam. Then lift the cover and loosen the rice in a lifting movement. Season to taste and garnish with spring onions and parsley.