Rolling those wraps.. traditional chinese egg rolls

We got some quick-ready-to-eat egg rolls from the grocery store before and they don't taste any good. I cant described it (its been long time) and I know I will never buy those stuff again. I would rather spend a little more time making my own rolls.

Here we go.. At first I wanted to use mom's recipe for the fillings but I used the recipe from Vitasoy USA Inc instead. You can get the recipe from their website too. Inside the packaging also have some recipes. I omitted the bean sprouts and I used powder ginger instead, the rest remains...

Be sure to drain and crumble the tofu before stir-fry.
Stir-fry tofu and ginger in wide skillet over high heat until lightly browned, 2-3mins.

Add carrot, cabbage and spring onions; cook for 2 minutes. Stir in Oyster sauce. Stir well.

Then let the mixture cools before putting the filling in the egg roll.
Place filling diagonally on wrapper.


Fold corner over filling, roll snugly half-way to cover filling.


Fold up both sides snugly against filling, moisten edges of last flap.

Roll over flap to seal; lay flap-side down until ready to cook.


These traditional egg rolls were so simple and they were delicious. Even better dipping in sambal or sweet chilli sauce.. Yummy!! Maybe cooking with love, even hubby said its so good.. hehe..

Happy Fourth of July. Sweet tooth n comfort food!!!!!

It's Fourth of July, United States Independence Day. We got some fireworks and I was looking forward to play....Unfortunately, the weather is not so nice today, raining... we have to postpone to tomorrow's evening.. :( Well, in celebration of Fourth of July, I baked a yellow cake/cupcakes with a vanilla cream cheese frosting. The small heart cake was for us and the cupcakes were for his friends. It was sweet and delicious..... :)

Since it was raining today, I wanted to make some comfort food for dinner... so I had to browse my recipe books... I looked at my "Step by Step Comfort Food" by Bay Books. I always preferred recipes books with step by step instructions accompanied with pictures.... make it a little easy for me.. hehe... Well, I chose Shepherd's Pie for our dinner today... :)

Ingredients:
2lb 4 oz (1kg) potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 oz (30g) butter
2 tbsp milk
1 tbsp oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2lb 4 oz (1 kg) minced (ground) lamb - I used ground beef
1 carrot, finely chopped
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cup (250ml) vegetable stock - I used beef stock
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 cup (155g) frozen peas

1. Cook the potatoes in large pan of boiling water for 15-20 mins, or until tender. Drain well and return potatoes to the pan over low heat. Remove from the heat, add the butter and milk, and mash until smoot. Season with salt and pepper. Preheat oven to 350F/180C.

2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large frying pan and add the onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft an just beginning to color. Add the meat, increase the heat and cook until browned.

3. Add the carrot to the pan and cook for a few mins. Sprinkle on the flour and cook, stirring, for 1 min. Slowly add the stock, stiring constantly, Add the Worcestershire sauce. Bring to the boil and cook for 2-3 mins, or until the gravy thickens. Season to taste. Stir in the peas and transfer the mixture to a 8 cup(2 litre) ovenproof dish.

4. Spread the mash evenly over the meat, Use a fork to swirl the surface. Bake for 40-50 mins, or until the potato is golden.

My shepherd's pie in the oven for bake.......

After the bake, this is what it looks like......

Served with slices of bread and some prawn crackers..... ~~DELICIOUS~~

P.S: We were at our friend's house (around 5pm), when we were told about a terrible tragedy happened just a few hours ago..... about a former quarterback player, Steve McNair, who led the Tennessee Titans was found dead with multiple shots in Nashville. It was unbelievable. We were in Nashville on Friday and today, a famous ex-NFL was killed. This is so sad.... :( Our deepest sympathy on to his family. R.I.P.

Fast and simple.. delicious chicken and potatoes....

Hubby agreed to drive his friend to the airport, to pick his mom who was coming to USA for the first time. Poor her, her luggage will be delivered to her. She did not know that she had to re-check in her luggage again when she arrived at the transit airport. Anyway I prepared dinner earlier than the usual time. I've been wanting to make the recipe my mom gave me... chicken and potatoes. Easy and simple....

I used chicken tenders and marinated them using the seasoning mix for chicken that I bought. The seasoning mix was ok but a little bit salty after being pan-fried. Put aside.
Then I cut the potatoes into 8 pieces and deep fried in hot oil.. Put aside.
I took out my chilli mixture from the refrigerator that I blended the other day. Its good to have it ahead of time for cooking. I blended some chilli, onion, garlic and ginger altogether.
Heat the cast iron with some oil. Add the blended mixture and cook for about 2mins. Once you can smell the fragrance, add the potatoes. Then add some sugar and a pinch of salt. Lastly add the cooked chicken tenders. Cut some spring onions to give some green color to it.. hehe..

It was so good and delicious... Great with a side of rice. Fast and easy to cook. Thanks mom :)

Chicken with vegetables

Last night, actually I was out of idea what to cook for dinner.. I was busy ironing the clothes (could not stand seeing him going to work with wrinkle t-shirts) and didn't realized it was almost dinner time. I know hub could probably be very tired after a long day at work but he volunteered to make dinner. Well, he did mentioned to me the other day when we went for our groceries shopping, he said he wanted to make me some chicken with vegetables. So last night he did. So sweet of him.. I got to snap a few shots..

First, he used the leg quarter with back bone and marinaded with spices. I think he uses chicken seasoning. He could have used some other spices too to give a little more taste... hehe..

Then he added the potatoes, carrots, long beans and peas. Lastly he added the chicken stock and a few whole cloves.

He covered than pan with aluminum foil that he poked some holes to let the steam out. I did not check how long and the temperature was. hmm... should have asked him... sorry..

After its cooked, he served it on top of 2 slices of bread... there you go! Delicious yet simple to do by my sweet hub. :)

yummy! hehe ;)

Asam Rebus

Now, I am back to the blog world. Its been a while.... Right now, I am still trying to settle in and I cant wait to start something in the kitchen.. My own little corner..

Last night, I've made a local dish that mom cooked regularly back home. This is one of my favorites. Its Asam Rebus. It is a hot and sour dish. I remember when mom cooked this for us and she wanted us to eat, she always trick us by saying "if you want to be on diet, eat this soup more, then you'll lose weight..." hahaha.. Usually mom used mackerel (ikan kembung) or golden band scad (ikan selar kuning) with long beans and tomatoes for this recipe. Since I am unable to get these fishes here, I went for easy one, no fish and veges and not too spicy.

I think this not a good photo, becoz at that point of time, i did not think of my blog.. luckily, i managed to get a pic before i start digg in... I added rice to the soup..

You'll need:

1 big onion
2 garlic
2 dry chillies, cut and soak
1/4 tsp ginger powder
1 dried tamarind fruit slices (asam keping)
salt and pepper to taste
alittle bit of sugar
imitation crab meats

Blend onion, garlic, ginger powder and chillies in the blender. In a big saucepan, add a little oil to stir fry the mixture. Then add water. Bring everything to boil. Lastly, add the crab meats, salt and pepper to taste.