My potato and celery soup!

I like the can condensed cream of mushroom or condensed cream of celery. Usually, I just add water or milk. Easy and fast. However, this time, I wanted to make a little different. I looked up at all my soup recipes for guidance.

The end results....Wow! The soup was incredibly delicious.... I served the soup with toasted bread with cheese on top. Yummy!




Ingredients:
1 small red Onion - thinly sliced
1 Garlic - thinly sliced
4 Potatoes - diced
2 slices turkey bacon - thinly sliced
1 can condensed cream of celery soup
10.5ouces (298g) water/milk
Salt and pepper for taste

Boil or fried the potatoes first. Put it aside. Heat the oil in a medium pan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Stirring, for about 2-3mins or until onions becoming slightly browned. Add turkey bacon, cooked potatoes, salt and pepper. Lastly, add the cream of celery and water/milk. Heat until simmering.

P.S: Today is my hubby's Birthday. I just want to say "Happy Birthday to my better half. Thank you for all the countless love and caring ways. I love being loved by you." xoxo
Check out for my post tomorrow....... :)

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri to all...

I would like to wish all my Muslim friends "SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILTIRI. MAAF ZAHIR & BATIN".
Although I am so far away from my family and friends in Singapore, they are always close to my heart. I'm so happy that I get to talk to all of my family today. I miss all the Hari Raya food and the cookies and cakes.. also get to visit our relatives and friends and eat more food.. lol..

Since it is only the two of us here, I did not bake any cookies like I did in Singapore. Just a few dishes for us. It was my first time cooking all the Hari Raya food and they turned out great! Both of us were very happy eating good food and having a good time! :)


CHICKEN SATAY ON THE GRILL...


OUR HARI RAYA FOOD.. KETUPAT (Compressed Rice Cakes) AND KUAH LONTONG / SAYUR LODEH (Vegetables in Coconut milk) CHICKEN SATAY WITH PEANUT SAUCE, PRAWN CRACKERS AND CRUNCHY FRIED SHRIMP AND CRABMEAT

THE KETUPAT WITH KUAH LONTONG AND SERUNDENG.

Salmon Cakes

Gotta tell ya...I cooked a lot but I have the tendency to snap pictures of my food and did not post them right away in my blogspot!!!! Just like this one. We had it about 2 weeks ago and now, I'm just posting it here... What a procrastination!!! NOT GOOD!!!!

Anyway, I never had these salmon cakes before so I made them for dinner the other day.. They are great, I am not sure what is it but something is missing in my salmon cakes.. maybe I didn't sprinkle enough lemon juice.... I adapted the recipe from my 'The Seafood Cookbook, Florida Favorites' and change a little bit from the recipe, by adding mashed potatoes.....

Salmon Cakes
Ingredients:
1 can salmon
1 small onion, diced
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp mayonnaise
1/4 tsp Worcestershire
2 tbsp minced fresh parsley or parsley flakes
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 potatoes

To coat the patties before frying:
flour
1 egg, beaten
cornmeal
crushed cornflakes

Peel off the skin from the potatoes and cut into cubes. In medium saucepan with water, bring the potatoes to a boil until it turned soft. Leave it to cool before mash the potatoes.

In a medium bowl, flake the salmon with a fork (I removed the bones although they are edible). Mix in the potatoes, onion, egg, parsley, mayonnaise, Worcestershire, salt and pepper. Form into cakes or patties, about 12 small size.

Roll patties in flour, then in the beaten egg and lastly in the cornflakes or cornmeal or even breadcrumbs.

Heat oil in a skillet. Fry till golden. Sprinkle with lemon juice.

In the below picture, I drizzled my cake with some honey mustard sauce. yummy!

German Pancake

I got this recipe from a friend a few years ago. He makes it really good but now I can't get to eat the one he makes anymore.. But no worries, good thing, I got the recipe from him. A German pancake is a cross between a souffle and an omelet. Since I love souffle and omelet, its a good combination. I love this pancake because its light, soft, airy and I can have my favorite fruits for the topping.. Simply lovely and delicious!


Ingredients
3 large eggs,
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
2 tbsp butter

Topping Ideas
Strawberry, Blueberries, Grapes, Whipping cream, Applesauce, Maple syrup, Honey, Sifted powdered (confectioners) sugar

Preheat oven to 450 deg F. Place your cast-iron skillet on the middle rack of your oven until it gets hot and sizzling. ( I prefer to use cast-iron skillet, and I only have the 8-inch. If not you can use a large, heavy ovenproof frying pan.)

While the pan is heating in the oven, in a large bowl, whisk the eggs until light and frothy. Add flour and whisk until smooth; then add milk, vanilla extract (you can add a bit of cinnamon if you want to) and beat for another 5 mins. The batter will be thin, but very smooth and creamy.

Remove the hot skillet from the oven (remember to use a cloth or pot holder because the skillet is very hott). Add butter; tilting the pan to melt the butter and coat the skillet. Pour the prepared batter, into the hot skillet and immediately return the skillet to the oven.

Bake approx 20-25 mins or until puffed and golden brown (Do not worry when your pancake puff irregularly in the center).

Remove from the oven and serve immediately with your favorite toppings. (once out of the oven, the pancake will begin to deflate.)

This is how my hubby likes for breakfast... heehee!

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

S&SB: Jammy Doughnut Muffins

I love doughnuts, specially those fresh ones.. hmm.. yummy! This time, SSB is going a little healthier.. No frying doughnuts. Tested and tried...these Jammy Doughnut Muffins were fabulous!! I even put custard in some of my doughnuts. They turned out great!

Any flavoured jam would be equally as delicious to use in this bake as opposed to strawberry and raspberry. You may have some delectable homemade jam(s) you wish to use or what about the sublime Dulce de Leche, (“toffee sauce”) even a thick vanilla custard or stewed apples. The amount of baking powder is correct in this recipe, I know it seems a vast amount but it does work.

Makes 12
Ingredients
275g (10 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
3 tsp baking powder
Pinch salt
100g (4 oz) caster (superfine) sugar
2 eggs
200ml (7 fl oz) milk
75g (3 oz) unsalted (sweet) butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla extract
12 tsp strawberry or raspberry jam

For The Toping
100g (4 oz) unsalted (sweet) butter
150g (5 oz) granulated sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon (optional)

You will need 12 hole muffin tin lined with paper cases.

Method
Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas mark 5.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl, and stir through the sugar. In large jug, lightly beat the eggs then add the milk, cooled butter and vanilla extract and beat together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients stir gently until just combined. (Do not over mix, its fine to have a few lumps in the mixture.) Spoon half the muffin mixture into the base of each paper case. Top each muffin with a teaspoon of jam. Now equally between each paper case, top with the remaining muffin mixture. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 – 20 minutes until well risen, golden and firm to the touch.

For The Topping: melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat. Spread the granulated sugar in a wide, shallow bowl with the cinnamon if using. When the muffins are baked, leave in the tin for 5 minutes. Dip the tops of the muffins in the melted butter and then roll in the sugar. You can serve these muffins warm or cold; however, I do prefer to eat them whilst warm.

I'm looking forward to see the other entries for this bake.. Thanks Rosie and Maria for the great bake. :) Check out Sweet and Simple Bakes.