what's left of the Buttermilk Coffee Cake...

If I wasn't on my stupid Atkin's diet, the cake would have finished on the day itself! Aaaaa so much torture!

Seafood Spaghetti

Haha yes, another entry for the day! Busy busy busy. Hehe. This time tonight for dinner, my mom made Seafood Spaghetti!

I can feel my taste buds tingling now, can you?

With this recipe, you can really taste the seafood-ness of the prawns and clams and squid! Ooooh~~ I admit I don't really like seafood (except for prawn and crabs. I love those!! fish is so-so.)

So here's the recipe for a really mouth-watering Seafood Spaghetti! (even sitting at the table, smelling it made me salivate!):


Ingredients:

• Meduim-sized prawns
• clams
• squid

note that you can be flexible with how much seafood you want, but keep in mind this dish serves 8 people. In my mom's case, she used approx half kg for the three above ingredients.

• 1 stick butter
• 1 medium can tomato puree
• 2 cans diced tomatoes, blended (you may even choose to just blend one and a half cans, the other half will give the dish some colour) (or you can substitute for 10 fresh tomatoes, skin peeled off and boiled till soft and blend that as well)
  
• Parsley, chopped (my mom used English Parsley)
• 2 cubes chicken stock
• 2 heads garlic, finely chopped or put through a garlic press
  
• 2 tbsp sugar
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 packet spaghetti, cooked (refer to this entry of mine on how to cook spaghetti properly)
  

Serves 6-7 people


First, you shell your prawns and set the shells aside as well (do not throw them out!)

In a frying pan, heat up the oil until hot and fry the prawn shells along with the heads as well. (this is what gives the dish its seafood flavour. the more, the better!) Best if you use olive oil to fry, it gives the dish a good flavour and body to it.

After frying until really fragrant, remove shells and heads from pan. You can discard it now.

Marinate your prawns, clams (set aside half before you marinate, it will be used separately later on) and squid with salt and pepper before frying each individually (that means fry all 3 ingredients separately, removing one ingredient from the pan before adding another to fry) in the same pan. Also, put a slice of butter (approx 1 thick") before you fry each ingredient.

Make sure you discard any clams has its shell unopened after it has been fried - this means it is rotten and should not be consumed.

For the half portion of clams that you've set aside, boil it in some water long enough for the shells to open to make it easier for you to remove it (not too much, just enough to cover almost halfway). Once you've removed the shells, boil the shell-less clams in the same water again till fragrant. This will be the 'clam juice' that will be included into the dish to give it the seafood-y taste as well. Take out the clams and set aside both juice and clam.

Fry your garlic in the same frying pan until it is a bit fragrant. Add tomato puree, blended tomatoes and clam juice. Add sugar, and then add 2 chicken cubes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add water. Bring to a boil, stirring it. Add chopped parsley and let it simmer, with the lid on until you get the consistency that you want. Do not put in your seafood yet, only add it all in just before serving.

Just before serving, add your prawns, clams and squid into the sauce and stir on low heat, long enough to just mix it all properly and take it off the fire immediately. It has already been cooked so further cooking will result in the seafood to become hard.

You can serve this dish separately (spaghetti and seafood sauce) or you can even mix it in the frying pan (if it is big enough) like what my mom has done!


It seems like a tiny bit of a hassle to make, but man, if you know what it tastes like, you won't mind at all!


Oh man I am hungry again even my looking at the pictures! And I just ate! This is a must-try for seafood-lovers! :D~

Buttermilk Coffee Cake

Two days ago, my mummy made Buttermilk Coffee Cake!


She took the recipe from New Cook Book (limited edition) from Better Homes and Gardeens Books (again! must blog about the book soon, it's really good! It's like our cooking bible now hahahaha)

It tastes HEAVENLY. It actually doesn't contain any coffee or caffeine at all actually, even though the name suggests it; so I'm guessing that this cake goes wonderful with a good cuppa warm coffee. (which I don't take, unfortunately. Bleh.)

In fact, the cake consists of the wonderful flavours of cinnamon and nutmeg! So tasty!

So here's the recipe on how you can make your own Buttermilk Coffee Cake!:

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup butter, margarine or shortening (my mom used butter)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 2 beaten eggs
• 1 1/3 cups buttermilk or sour milk (I will explain what sour milk is and how to make it)
• 1/2 chopped nuts (my mom used Walnuts in this case)

Makes 18 servings


First, grease your baking pan with butter (the book says 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan...) and set aside.

In a bowl, combine flour, brown sugar and salt. Cut in the butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs, or you can even use your hands and squeeze until the mix becomes crumb-like. Set aside a 1/2 cup, this will be used to top the cake.

In another bowl, combine the eggs and buttermilk and mix. Add it into the flour mixture and spoon the batter into the pan. Sprinkle the reserved crumbs and chopped nuts all over the batter.

Bake it in a oven at 180 Celcius for 35-40 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Make sure you preheat the oven for at least 10 minutes before putting in the cake!



Best served warm and straight out of the oven because the nuts and the crumbs will be very crunchy, the cake will taste soft and moist, and the combination tastes great! After a while it doesn't seem to be so nice though, but you can always re-heat it in an ovennette or an oven. I recommend you finish this as quickly as possible (and with something so delicious, I think that won't be a problem. hehehe.)

It tastes beautiful with vanilla ice cream as well! (especially when it is hot. mmm~)


Anyway, sour milk is a good substitute for buttermilk if you don't have any around the house. You can make it by placing 1 tbsp of lemon juice or vinegar in a measuring cup, and add enough milk to make 1 cup of total liquid. Let it stand for 5 minutes before using!

So, this is a recipe that is guaranteed to make your day a little special. It tastes great on a chilly weekend morning :)

Try it! You'll grow to like it!

Deviled Eggs

I made Deviled eggs today for lunch!

looooousy picture. blame the lighting, it was raining today.

"Deviled eggs or eggs mimosa are a common dish in France and the United States, but they actually originated in Rome according to the show The Secret Life Of.... Made with hard-boiled eggs, deviled eggs are served cold. They are served as a side dish and are a common holiday or party food.

The term "deviled" dates back to the 19th century, referring to the use of particularly hot spices in cooking. Contemporary versions of deviled eggs may include a wide range of seasonings and added foods, such as garlic, horseradish, wasabi, cheese, chutney, capers, salsa, hot sauce, mushrooms, spinach, sour cream, caviar, smoked salmon, or other seafood. Thus contemporary deviled eggs are not always particularly spicy."

-sourced from Wikipedia

So basically, it's hard-boiled eggs with a tasty egg-yolk filling! A great side dish for parties and whatnot.

It's also great for those who are on low-carb or Atkin's Diet (like me, so for about one month you will be getting a lot of protein-packed recipes! I lost 4kgs so far in 4 days muahahaha).

There are many variants of Deviled egg, but this is the recipe that I've tried:

Ingredients:

• 6 eggs (I used 5 today actually, didn't feel like eating that much)
• 1/4 cup mayonaise OR salad dressing (if on low-carb, check nutritional value beforehand. And I used mayonaise)
• 1 tsp mustard (I used Dijon mustard with honey!)
• 1 tsp vinegar
• Paprika or parsley springs (optional, but I used it in this recipe)
• Salt and pepper to taste
  

Makes 12 servings (one serving is half an egg...um, duh.)

First, heat a pot of water (enough to cover the egg for about 1") and put in one tsp of salt in the water to give it a bit of flavour. When it comes to a boil, I put the eggs slowly into the pot - best if you use a spoon to place it at the bottom or else it will crack (my first egg did! lesson learned...)

Let the eggs boil for ten minutes before removing. Run the eggs underneath tap water till it can be handled.

To remove the shell, gently tap the egg on the countertop and gently roll it between your hands. Peel off the shell, starting from the wide end of the egg.

After you've peeled all the eggs, cut the eggs in half, lengthwise. Remove the egg yolks and place it in a bowl.

Put in your mustard, vinegar, mayonaise/salad dressing. For me, I added approx half a tbsp of Paprika into the egg yolk mix, and probably a little over a tsp of hot chilli powder. I also added pepper to taste (I didn't add salt tho, it was fine as it is!)

After the egg-yolk mix has been prepared, with a spoon or a small cooking spatula (I used the latter), slot some of the mix into the egg white. If you want to make it look presentable, you can use a piping bag after you've leveled the egg yolk mix (to have a good base first) and be creative! (it looks good with a rosette tip too!) (ahem too bad I didn't do that. Next time then!)

As a last step, I sprinkled some dried parsley leaves over the eggs to give it a nice look.

And... serve!

Originally it is served cold, but for me it tastes good when it is warm :D you can try out both and see which you like best!

You can even try an Italian version, which consists of creamy Italian salad dressing and 2 tbsp of grated Parmesan cheese. Or a Greek version which consists of 2 tbsp of feta cheese, 1 tbsp fnely-chopped pitted kalamata olives (or other pitted ripe olives) and 2 snipped fresh oregano. Season with black pepper also if you wish!

Or you can go crazy! Experiment with herbs and spices, and maybe cream or milk or other types of sauces and see what suits your tastebuds best.

Also, I took the recipe from New Cookbook (limited edition) from Better Homes and Gardens Books. (I love that book! So many different recipes)

I'm sure in the end you will be amazed at what simple dishes can do :)

Reika's Oven-Cooked Parmesan Chicken

I'm back! This time this is my own recipe. And I can guarantee you, if you love chicken and you love cheese, it is worth a try! :)

And the best thing about this recipe is that you can incorporate this into your low-carb or even Atkin's diet! Dieting never felt so sinful before. Hahahaha!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 chicken breast, skinned
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated (but more if you want to!)
• 1/2 tsp Paprika
• 1/2 tsp Thyme
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp butter

serves 1 person


Firstly, preheat the oven at about 190 Celsius.

Beat the egg in a bowl large enough to fit the chicken.


Add Paprika and Thyme into the egg and stir well. Add salt and black pepper to taste.


Dip the chicken into the egg mix. You might want to poke a few holes here and there to ensure that the flavours reach into the chicken. Leave for about 10 minutes.


Put your chicken on a pan and top it with Parmesan cheese. Then put your butter on top of the chicken, and drizzle it with some olive oil to ensure that the butter doesn't burn in the oven.

Leave it in the oven for about 25 minutes.

While I was waiting for my chicken to be ready, I had some egg mixture and Parmesan leftovers.

Instead of letting it go to waste, I decided to use it up - and make an omelet to go with my chicken!



I fried the egg mixture in a small, round pan (hehe!). I let it cook both sides before I sprinkled Parmesan cheese on one side, flipped it over and repeated the process.

My mistake was that I cooked the Parmesan too long, so it actually melted and is quite stringy. Try to cook it enough to just heat it a bit, kay? :)

When it is done, serve!


What I did was I cut into two because I made two servings instead - one for me and one for my mom.

And it tasted WONDERFUL for something that can be eaten during a diet! (I am on Atkins, 2nd day now. Trying to lose 15kgs once and for all!)

Try it, you'll love it! :)