Easy Poached Egg

So we were window shopping earlier and found this Microwave Egg Poacher:

All you have to do is crack an egg into each cup, pierce the yolk with a fork and add 1/2 tsp of water to each cup. Put the egg poacher in the microwave and heat for 1 minute 15 seconds (time may vary for different microwaves). I think I overdid ours so I'm setting it to just a minute next time.

Now it's easier and faster to prepare cute breakfast meals :)

Recipe: Oreo Truffles Take 2

The husband wanted cheesecake but I don't have a stand mixer so I had to go with his second favorite: Oreo Truffles.

I used the same easy recipe as I used last time but added just a little bit of white chocolate on top to make it pretty (it is pretty obvious that I'm no good at decorating :)).

Here's the recipe:

Makes approx. 24

-1pkg of Oreos (18oz)

-1pkg of softened cream cheese (8oz)

-Chocolate melts or semi-sweet chocolate (for dipping)

Crush the package of Oreos, either in a food processor or in place in a ziplock bag and use a rolling pin. Once the Oreos are crushed (you want them to be very fine crumbs, otherwise you will have chunks of cookie in your truffles), combine them with the softened cream cheese in a bowl. Mix until it is well blended. Roll the mixture into 1-inch balls and place on a cookie sheet. Put the cookie sheet in the freezer or fridge to harden the truffles. Once firm enough (about 30 - 1 hour in fridge), remove them and dip them into the melted chocolate using a fork. Replace back on cookie sheets and put them in the fridge or freezer to harden. Best when served chilled.

Original Recipe: http://delightfuldessert.blogspot.com/2010/01/oreo-truffles.html

Recipe: Quick and Tasty Stir Fry

"Stir-fries are a brilliant way of getting lots of veggies into your diet without compromising on taste." - Donal (www.thegoodmoodfoodblog.com)

I claim to be on a diet so I decided to give his Zingy Quick and Tasty Stir Fry a try. Plus being Asian, I can't really say no to stir fry.

I didn't want to do just veggies so I added slices of chicken thighs (what diet? :)), shrimp and Chinese sausage. Just go easy on your oil and brown your chicken and sausage first before you put in your aromatics. For noodles, I didn't really know what kind to use - whether it's your normal pasta noodles or Asian noodles - but I decided to use fettucine since the original recipe looked like it used fettucine.

Overall, the recipe is indeed zingy, quick and tasty so if you are into all those things, then give this recipe a try.

Zingy Quick and Tasty Stir Fry

Serves six

250g noodles of your choice

2 tbsps soy sauce

1 tsp honey

Juice of 1 lime

1 red pepper, thinly sliced

2 carrots, grated or sliced in thin matchsticks

½ head cabbage, roughly shredded

2 pieces boneless, skinless chicken thighs, sliced to thin strips

4 pieces Chicken sausage, sliced

1 red onion, sliced into thin half moons

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 red chilli, finely chopped

1/2 lb of shrimp

Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet, drain and set aside.

Whisk together the soy sauce, honey and lime juice in the bottom of a large bowl. Add in the chopped veggies, except for the onion, garlic and chillies, and toss until everything is combined.

Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan until it’s very hot then add in the chicken and Chicken sausage and cook until chicken turns golden brown.

Add the onion, chilli and garlic and stir-fry for about 40 seconds.

Add in the veggies and stir fry until they are tender. You can check this by taking a bite.

Add in the shrimp and stir fry for 2 minutes.

Then add the noodles and toss in with all the veggies until combined, then fry for a further minute.

Original Recipe:

http://www.thegoodmoodfoodblog.com/2010/10/zingy-quick-and-tasty-stir-fry.html

Back In the Grind

The past two quarters have been pretty busy. Starting this week, I'll try to start cooking again :)

April

The first half of the month will be spent packing and wrapping up things here in Minnesota.

The second half will be filled with activities to start up in Manila.

....So I will probably take a break from cooking and trying out restos this month. See you in May!

Silog Easter Brunch

"Silog" is a popular Filipino breakfast (which I also love to have for dinner) which is short for sinangag (garlic rice) and itlog (egg). The most popular combinations are:

- Tapsilog = tapa (cured beef) + garlic rice + egg

- Tosilog/Tocilog = tocino (sweetened cured meat) + garlic rice + egg

- Longsilog = longganisa (sweet sausage) + garlic rice + egg

Most of the time these are also served with tomatoes to neutralize the saltiness of the meat and egg (some people prefer to use salted egg as well).

More and more restaurants in Manila are coming up with more silog combinations = Hotsilog (with hotdog), Spamsilog (with Spam) and Cornsilog (with corned beef). Since I still had a can of corned beef and we still had eggs in the fridge we decided to make Cornsilog. We went towards the steamed rice path to cut down the fat.

We love Purefoods Corned Beef which we saute in red onions. We would have added potatoes to make it hash but we don't have any. We prepared over-medium eggs and I must say this has has got to be the prettiest looking eggs I've prepared so far - cooked on low heat with butter and a pinch of salt. Hot steamed white rice completes this brunch.

Happy Easter Sunday everyone!

Review: Ever Reliable China To Go

Because my husband and I are very busy getting ready to go back home, I wasn't able to prepare anything this week. Hopefully, we'll finish packing most of our stuff this week and enjoy a more decent meal next week.

For sustenance we went to Panda Express which opened their branch in Eagan just last week:

I like their:

- Sweetfire Chicken Breast

- Black Pepper Chicken

- Honey Walnut

A better alternative to Lee Ann Chin but I still think Thai Kitchen is better.