Simple Cooking Ideas

Here is the easiest fast way to eat pizza by using cream cracker as the pizza base. This dish is best served just after preparation. You can reserve some pizza ingredients ready in the fridge so that your children can have a pizza at any time.

Ingredients: serves 4-6

3 tablespoon tomato paste
12 cream crackers
1 tin tuna, flaked
150 gm mozzarella cheese, or any cheese, grated
2 big onions cut into strips
2 tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 green or red capsicum, seeded and cut into strips
200 gm canned tuna

Method:

Spread tomato paste on the cream crackers. Arrange the onion slices, tomato slices, and capsicum strips on the cream crackers. Top with flaked tuna and cheese. Grill for 5 mins and serve at once.

To those who wish to try how to make some curry puffs on a Sunday or school holidays, why not ask the kids to help around too. Here is a simple way to make curry puffs. Get a packet of frozen pastry from the supermarket and thaw out well before using.

Ingredients:

1 packet frozen pastry, thawed
100 gm minced meat
2 potatoes, dice finely
1 big onion diced finely
2 shallots
1 sprig curry leaves
1 tablespoonful curry powder
salt to taste
2 tablespoon oil
enough oil for deep frying

Method:

Blend curry powder into a paste with coconut milk. Heat oil and saute the shallots. Add curry leaves. Fry until fragrant. Add curry paste and continue to stir-fry a minute. Add meat and onion. Fry for a minute and add the diced potatoes and salt to taste. Add little water or coconut milk and simmer till potatoes is soft and meat is tender. Cook till dry and dish out.

Knead dough lightly on a pastry board that has been sprinkle a little flour to prevent from sticking the board. Roll out pastry evenly and thinly. Place pastry cutter on the rolled out pastry and cut rounds of pastry. Spoon enough filling on half of the semi circle. Do not spread too near the edge. Fold over the other semi circle. Press the edges and seal tightly. Decorate the edge by twisting the edge with your finger tips.

Heat enough oil for frying. Slide the curry puffs into the oil and deep fry till golden brown. Do not allow the oil to be smoking hot.

How To Make Shrimp Toast

Eggs. You just cannot live without eggs. Even on the worst of days when you do not like to eat anything but your stomach protests, all you need is an egg. Eggs can be prepared to taste in many ways, depending on how you cook. Here is a simple omellette using salted turnip called “choy poh” in Cantonese.

Ingredients:

5 grade A eggs
300 gm salted turnip(choy poh), soaked
100 gm small shrimps, shelled
1/2 teaspoon ikam bilis stock
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Soaked choy poh for 30 minutes, then drain. Mix all the eggs, choy poh, shrimps and ikan bilis stock in a mixing bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. In a non-stick pan, heat cooking and sesame oil together until hot. Pour in the mixture and smoothen over the top. Simmer on low heat to cook through. Cover the pan and cook til the mixture is firm and seperate from the pan. When the underside is golden brown, flip over and continue cooking till brown.

Pancakes are easy to make. It is suitable for tea time and breakfast in the morning. This is a savoury snack for the young and old.

Ingredients :

100 gm plain flour
200 ml water
dash of salt and pepper
some chopped spring onion
2 egg - lightly beaten

Method :

First, combine plain flour with water, salt and pepper into a thick batter. Then add in chopped spring onion and mix well.
Heat up a pan and add in a little oil and pour in half of batter, swirl into a round pancake.
Cook at low heat for about 2 minutes untill the pancake is almost cook.
Slowly pour half of beaten egg onto the pancake and cook at low heat untill the egg is cook.
Turn the pancake over and fry for futher 1 minute.
Serve it hot with chilli sauce or tomato sauce.

This is another recipe on bread pudding, using white bread and crust removed. You can use stale
bread. Do not throw away and keep in the fridge until you are free to do.

Ingredients:

1 stale. large white sliced loaf, crusts removed
300 ml milk
50 gm vegetable suet
50 gm castor sugar
100 gm raisins
100 gm sultanas
75 gm currants
11/2 teaspoon mixed spice
grated ring of 1 orange
1 egg, size 3
2 teaspoon granulated sugar.

Method:

1. Preheat ovens to 180 degree.Lightly grease an ablong cake tin. Cut the bread into small
squares and place in alarge mixing bowl.

2. Pour the milk over and leave covered for at least 30 minutes. The milk needs to have
completely absorbed and the bread very soft.

3.Beat the bread with the wooden spoon until smooth and free from lumps.You must ensure
that all the lumps are removed otherwise after the pudding is cooked you will find large
pieces of bread that are very solid and unpalatable.

4. Add the suet, then castor sugar to the bread and mix well. Beat in the raisins. sultannas
and currants. Add in the mixed spice and grated orange rind.

5. Lightly beat in the egg, then beat into the mixture. beat well with the wooden spoon to ensure that all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Spoon into the prepared dish and smooth over the top. Bake in the center shelf of the oven for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours.

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