Chicken Pasta Salad with Mayo-Yogurt Dressing

There's a lot of truth in the adage KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid). Sometimes I just don't feel like slaving over a hot stove for ages on end or labouring over the cutting board. This pasta salad is quick to whip up and easy to assemble. Perfect as a lunch box filler, or as a last minute party food. I whipped this up during a moment of desperation - family pot-luck and time wasn't on my side. It was a hit with the adults, tweens and kids, and is now on the popular request list. And the ingredients aren't complicated - cold chicken and short pasta, tossed with vegetables in a tangy mayo-yogurt dressing. Stuff that you'll find in your kitchen anyway. And voila! An extremely tasty chicken pasta salad that looks good too...

Ingredients:1 packet (500g) of dried short pasta
2 medium chicken breasts, about 500g
1 pack (500g) frozen corn kernels
250g cherry tomatoes - halved
3 large stalks spring onions - sliced thinly
1 large bunch coriander - roughly chopped
1 tub of natural yogurt
juice from 1/2 lemon
mayonnaise
salt and black pepper for seasoning

Method :
1.  Bring a large pot of water to boil, and cook pasta according to instructions.  Drain, rinse and leave to cool.
2.  Rub some salt and pepper over the chicken breasts and steam until cooked.  Removed and dice into cubes.
3.  Reheat the frozen corn kernels according to instructions.
4.  For the dressing, stir together equal portions of mayonnaise and yogurt into a large bowl. I usually

start out with 4 large tablespoons each.  Add in the lemon juice.  Add salt and ground black pepper to taste.
5.  Put in the diced chicken, pasta and all the vegetables and toss thoroughly.  Ensure that the pasta is well

coated with the dressing. 
6.  Chill, covered in a container until ready to serve.  Before serving give it a good stir to loosen up.

NotesYou can prepare and cook the ingredients before-hand, and store in the fridge until ready toss and dress.
Use a robust pasta shape like penne or spirals.  Ribbons tend to break easily.

Goji and Blueberry - super berry muffins

I used to laugh at my mother for needing reading glasses to read the newspapers.  Yes, yes, nasty of me.  But the laugh's on me now.  I. Need. Glasses.  Quelle horreur!

I swear it happened overnight.  One day I was happily rattling off the fine print on a bar of chocolates.  The next, it was all a blur. Vanity dictated that I put off glasses as long as I could, but reality soon hit with a thud. It's a dead giveaway when you start holding everything at an arm's-length anyway.

Okay, so enter the goji aka wolfberry 枸杞.  Chinese mamas will tell you for good eye sight, eat goji berries.  In our kitchen, we always throw some goji berries into soups.  In recent years, goji has been hyped-up and touted as some kind of super food in the English media.  All I know is that it is likely that its rich anti-oxidant properties makes it good for the eyes.

There were some plump juicy goji berries sitting in the fridge and I wanted to explore using them beyond

soups.  I was inspired to use them in muffins as they reminded me of raisins.  A quick search later and I

netted this wonderful recipe.  It also uses blueberries, making this into a super-muffin.  Blueberries are

rich in anti-oxidants too.  The combination of sweet blueberries tempered with the slightly tart goji berries

make this a wonderful muffin - great to kick start breakfast or as a snack.  The muffins are literally

bursting with berries.

The muffins are suitable to freeze, but believe me, there's no chance of them even hitting the freezer as

they are so good.

Recipe adapted from SylviaH
Makes 1 dozen

Ingredients:2 cups - 315g plain flour
3/4 cup -185g brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1 egg - lightly beaten
5 tbsp - 75g - unsalted butter - melted
1 Cup - 250g  buttermilk
2 cups - 250g berries - I used a combination of goji and blueberries

Method:1.  Preheat oven to 375F/190C and line the pans with muffin cases.
2.  Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt into a large bowl.  Add the sugar.
3.  Make a well in the center, add the egg, melted butter and buttermilk.
4.  Stir just until evenly moistened.  Batter will be a little lumpy.  You want lumpy batter.
5.  Fold in the fruits using a large spatula, gently.  Be careful not to break the blueberries.
6.  Spoon the batter gently filling each muffin cup.  Do not push the batter down into the cups.
7.  Bake until light golden brown, and springs back at the touch.  25 to 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway
through the bake. 
8.  Leave in muffin pan for 5 minutes, before removing onto a wire rack to cool down.
Best served warm or at room temperature.

Notes:
Don't over mix the batter, or you'll end up with tough chewy muffins.
I had dried goji berries, so I washed and soaked them with some hot water for 5 minutes to rehydrate.

Steamed buns with yambean filling

I've never been a fan of buns with sweet fillings and I have to politely decline whenever the likes of custard buns, red bean buns or tau sar buns are served at the end of meals.  Savoury buns, now that's another matter altogether.  Having tried my hand at the sweet potato buns the last time, I ventured to savoury filled buns.  These are filled with fried yambean or "bangkuang char".  Think of buns, filled to bursting with vegetables instead of the usual char siew.  There's also the contrast in textures - starting off with the soft fluffy bun, and then biting into the savoury vegetables.  This is a very wholesome snack in itself, and wholly vegetarian if you omit the pork slices in the fried yam bean.  It's also a great way to use any leftover fried yam bean from dinner.  Unless you are planning to feed an army, you don't really need very much fried yam bean.



I shaped them into buns.  Easy-peasy shapes.  Actually, I haven't mastered the pau folding technique, that's why :D

I also used the no-mess method - the trusty bread-maker for the kneading.  You can knead by hand too if you prefer; just takes a little more elbow grease.  This simple recipe is just that - simple.  It was a success the 1st try. The buns steam out like fluffy pillowy clouds, so if that's your cup of oolong then read on...



Recipe : adapted from Corner Cafe by Sea Dragon
Makes approximately 15 steamed buns

Ingredients:

A.  Pau dough:
200ml lukewarm water
2 1/2 cups (375g) pau flour
1 1/2 teaspoons double-action baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons caster sugar
2 teaspoons instant dry yeast
2 teaspoons oil
Baking paper for base

B.  Filling:
Fried yam bean - click here for recipe in my previous post

Method :
1. Cut baking paper into 4 inch squares and set aside.
2. In breadmaker, pour in the water, then add flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and yeast.  Put into dough mode and start cycle. 
3. After about 10 minutes,dough should be incorporated and coming together.  Pour in the oil bit by bit and continue kneading.  Knead in oil until incorporated. Dough should be smooth, elastic and pliable.  Remove from bread maker.
4. Form the dough into a round ball, in a large covered bowl.  Place in a warm area and let rise until double in size - approximately 1 hour.
5. Punch down, knead briefly and form into a rough log shape. Then divide the dough into 40g each. Form each piece into balls and let rest for 15 minutes, covered loosely with damp tea towel.
6. Roll each ball out into a circle, and fill with a tablespoon of fried yam bean.  Gather the sides up like a parcel and seal by pinching the edges together.   Place each bun on a piece of the prepared baking paper squares. 
7.  Cover the buns loosely with a damp tea towel, and let rise for about 30 minutes. 
8. Steam the buns for about 10-15 minutes.
9. May be stored frozen.  Thaw before using.  For best results, reheat by steaming. 

before sealing the bun

2nd proofing

Notes :

You can use plain white flour instead of pau flour.  The buns will have a yellower tinge.
Double action baking powder works once upon contact with water, and the second time upon contact with heat.  That's how the buns steam up fluffy and soft.  The yeast and baking powder work hand in hand will ensure maximum leavening.
Don't get greedy and over stuff the buns.  Trust me, it will burst.

Using a bamboo steamer gives the best results as it prevents water droplets from condensing onto buns and making them wet.

Fried yam bean - bangkuang char

I've grown up eating fried yam bean or "bangkuang char" as this dish is commonly served during special occasions eg Chinese New Year, winter solstice.  Special occasions also means big family affairs - and so there'll always be steaming big pots of bangkuang char waiting to be devoured.

Yam bean is more colloquially known as bangkuang amongst Hokkiens in Malaysia.  This is a root vegetable that looks a lot like turnip.  The yam bean can be eaten raw in salads like in rojak, or cooked for spring rolls and popiah.  When eaten raw, it has a crunchy texture and is mildly sweet, almost like water chestnut. 

We used to cook this with dried cuttlefish, but unfortunately the Cantonese homophone for dried cuttlefish sounds like "getting fired".  Erring on the side of caution and not wanting to push our luck, we stopped serving it with dried cuttlefish.  Call me superstitious, but better to be safe than sorry. 

There are other variations with ardent advocates for each - fried with sliced belly pork, with shitake, with

black fungus, with "flat fish", with prawns or just vegetarian with garlic.  It's very versatile, and you are

only limited by your imagination.  And did I mention hand-cut versus mandoline? If you are very patient, you

can julienne them by hand.  For me, I use the mandoline - heaps faster (hehe some will say just lazy!). 

julienned using a mandoline

It's great served with fluffy steamed rice, or even with "sang choy" or lettuce.  The lettuce variation is

popular as again it plays with the homophones - 'sang choy' sounds like rising prosperity in Cantonese.  Yup

- very auspicious sounding.  Cantonese love homophones, so for auspicious occasions like CNY, dishes should not only look and taste good, they have to sound good too.  For some additional kick, serve with some sambal belachan on the side. 

Ingredients:
1 medium yam bean - about 600 gm, washed and peeled
1 medium carrot - washed and peeled
4 cloves garlic - peeled and minced
100gm lean or fatty pork - sliced
4 tbsp oil
200ml water
salt and white pepper to taste
2 tbsp light soy sauce (optional)

Method:1.  Julienne the yam bean, by hand or using the mandoline.  I use the medium size which is about 2/8" - 3/8"

thick.
2.  Do the same with the carrot.
3.  Heat the oil in a large pan or wok, and stir fry the garlic until fragrant.
4.  Add the pork slices, and stir only enough to seal the meat.
5.  Throw in the julienned yam bean and carrot.
6.  Give it a couple of good stirs, cover pan with a lid, turn heat down to medium, and you will soon see the yam bean releasing its juices. 
7.  Add about 100ml water to the mix, and continue to simmer.  Cook until yam bean is softened.  Add more water along the way if necessary.
8.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  If using soy sauce, add this in first before salting.
9.  Dish out and serve.

Tale of two beans - red bean and soya bean jelly

Franchised kopitiams have been sprouting up faster than you can say lallang after a rainfall.  Apart from the usual kopi and teh in the menu, they have taken a leaf out of Starbucks and Coffee Bean and now offer ice-blended concoctions too, albeit with local flavours.  One unusual combination is the soya bean milk topped with red bean drink.  They blend the soya bean milk with ice, scoop a couple spoonfuls of red bean over it and you slurp it down with a large fat straw.

With Chinese new year celebrated over 15 days, there's a lot of celebrating with the family and friends.  It is also a cultural norm not to visit empty-handed - so it's usual to bring food or something sweet.  I think it is to symbolise a plentiful and sweet year ahead.  After a couple of days, I was racking my brain for something new and interesting to bring to the next family get-together. 

Ta-dah....soya bean milk with red bean! Not the drink, but put together into a layered jelly.  Jelly or rather agar-agar is an incredibly versatile dessert and you are only limited by your imagination and creativity. This combination of soya bean and red bean is also visually nice for CNY as it has a deep maroon from the red bean layer.  Because it is quite opaque looking, it resembles kuih more than jelly. 

This is a reasonably quick dessert to make.  Use ready-to-drink soya bean milk either the UHT variety or the freshly made one from the  "tau foo far" stall.  Personally the fresh one is nicer.  Red bean does take a long time to cook, so I cheat a little.  Once they are soft but not yet tender, I blend them first, and then continue the cooking process.  By blending them earlier, the smaller particles cook faster and if necessary I blend again at the end.  Yes, whatever it takes to reduce prep time.

Use a 2 litre volume mould

Ingredients:

2 packets of agar-agar powder

1/2 cup uncooked red beans - washed

some pandan leaves (optional0

250gm sugar

Water

3tbsp sugar

1litre soya bean drink - sweetened

Method:

Red bean layer

1.  In a small pot, put in enough water to cover the red beans, and pandan leaves and bring to a boil.  Simmer for about 45 minutes or until tender.  Stir occasionally and add water if necessary.  Don't let it dry out as the beans  won't cook.  Once tender, blend the red bean mixture.  Keep aside.

2.  Stir 1 packet of agar-agar powder with 250gm sugar. 

3.  Measure the total volume of the blended red bean.  You will need to measure enough water to make up a total of 1 litre of liquid.

4.  Place the water in a small pot, add in the agar-agar + sugar mixture and bring to a boil.  Do not cover, keep stirring to prevent burning.

6.  Once mixture has come to a boil, remove from heat and add in the red bean mixture. 

7.  Give it a good stir and pour into the mould.  Proceed to soya bean layer.

Soya bean layer

1.  Stir 1 packet of agar-agar powder with 3 tbsp sugar.

2.  Place the soya bean drink in a small pot, add in the agar-agar + sugar mixture and bring to a boil.  Do not cover, and keep stirring to prevent burning.

3.  At this point, the red bean layer should have started to set and be slightly firm already.  Prick the red bean layer with a fork.  This is to allow the soya bean layer to stick to the red bean layer.

4.  Pour the soya bean mixture over the red bean layer.  Cool and chill in the refrigerator for about 2 hours until firm to touch.

5.  To unmould, run a palette knife or toothpick around the edges to loosen before turning it over.

Notes :

Do follow the instructions on the packet for making agar-agar. It may vary depending on the brand used.

The cook time on the red beans is approximate only as some beans take a longer time to cook.

Do prick the red bean layer to allow the soya bean layer to stick.  Otherwise you will end up with 2 disparate pieces of agar-agar. 

Spotted Cow Cookies - for Chinese New Year

This is week 2 on the Chinese New Year cookie making activity.  Since baking out the Pistachio Butter
Cookies, I thought I'll try some more butter cookie recipes.  Surfing the net recently for inspiration, I
came across some old posts on German Butter Cookies.  Apparently, these were quite the rage amongst bloggers 2 years ago during CNY.  Yeah, so sue me for being slow.  Slowly but surely, as a colleague is fond of saying.

So 2 years on, I decided to try these marbled variation on the German Butter Cookie recipe from Ancoo Journal.  As the cookies turn out, I'm reminded of those black-white dairy cows.  So I'm calling these cookies "spotted cows" :)  Udderly cute looking, maybe I'll stick some horns on them the next time. 

This recipe uses quite a high ratio of low-protein flour, so the cookie has quite a melt-in-the mouth
texture.  If you prefer a crisper texture, I'd recommend that you use less potato flour and replace with
plain flour.  I didn't have potato flour as well, so I substituted it with corn flour which works just as
well. 

Dear readers, Kong Hei Fatt Choy and may the year of Dragon bring you roaring success.  Peace and happiness to all.

Recipe from Ancoo Journal - makes about 4 dozen
Ingredients :250g butter
80g icing sugar, sifted
250g potato starch or corn flour
160g plain flour, sifted
20g cocoa powder, sifted

Method :

1.  Beat butter and icing sugar till fluffy and lighter in color.
2.  Sift in potato starch and flour, mix to form a soft plain dough and set aside.
3.  Divide mixture in 2.  In a separate bowl, stir in the cocoa powder into one half of the mix to form the
chocolate dough.
4.  Divide plain and chocolate dough into 4 portions.
5.  Roll plain and chocolate dough separately into long strips. Using 1 tsp measuring spoon of plain and
chocolate dough, wrap them around each other with your hand and place on a lined baking tray and gently press dough with your finger.
6.  Bake at preheated oven at 170C for 13-15 minutes depending on the size of your cookies.
7.  Leave to cool completely and store in airtight container.

Wonderful with glass of cold milk. 

Notes :
It's easier to work with chilled cookie dough, so I kept the dough in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes before I rolled them out.   If like me, you have a teeny oven and making small batches at a time, keep the excess cookie dough chilled when not working on them.

Pistachio Butter Cookies

Another perennial favourite cookie for Chinese New Year is the butter cookie.  It is normally topped with a slice of almond and has is richly buttery and crumbly at the same time.  The recipe is one where you spread it into a pan, then cut into squares after baking.  Unfortunately I lost a lot of recipes when I misplaced my Home Science recipe book.  Home Science was still taught when I was in secondary school, and all recipes were painstakingly hand-written down (imagine that!).    My friends and I still have fond memories of our various kitchen antics and mis-adventures.

Anyways, I found a butter cookie recipe which I liked.  It has a wonderful butter flavour, and a light, crisp texture.  The original recipe called for it to be piped through a star-nozzle.  Well, I had no piping bag and never piped before.

Improvisation #1.  Having seen kitchen maestros work with ziploc bags as icing bags, I thought it would be a piece of cake to replicate the same.  They made it look easy. No nozzle?  Just snip a corner off and pipe them like macaroons.  Haha.  Wrong.  The piped cookie dough looked like fingers.   Darn.  Not the look I was after.

Improvisation #2.  Chilled the dough for a few minutes ( it was definitely wilting from the kitchen humidity).  Then took teaspoonfuls to quickly roll into balls and flatten on the cookie sheet.  This worked fine, but the cookies looked kind of forlorn and plain.

Improvisation #3.  Sprinkle some nuts over before baking.  I chopped some pistachios and sprinkled/pressed them over the cookies before baking.  Pistachios are great because you get green-brown colours from the nuts and different textures as you bite into a cookie.  Also instead of just butter, you get a mild pistachio flavour too.  Not as boring looking and somewhat more contemporary.  Hurrah!  Great served with a cup of tea as it has a delicate flavour.

Makes 48 cookies
Recipe adapted from Christine's blog

Ingredients :
130gm butter - room temperature
65gm icing sugar
35gm caster sugar
1 egg
200gm plain flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp vanilla essence
some finely chopped pistachios

Method:
1.  Preheat oven to 190C and lightly grease the baking sheets.
2.  Cream butter in a bowl until smooth and pale.
3.  Add in the sugars and cream until fluffy.
4.  Beat in the egg, about 1/3 at a time.  Make sure you beat well after each addition.  Mix should be quite light and pale at this stage.
5.  Stir in vanilla essence.
6.  Sift the flour and baking powder together and stir into the batter with a spatula.  Don't over mix, just incorporate the flour in.
7.  Chill dough for about 10 minutes in refrigerator.  You want this to be slightly firm to roll into balls.
8.  Take about 1 tsp of dough at time and roll into balls.  Work quickly or else heat from your hands will soften the dough.
9.  Press each ball gently to flatten slightly, and sprinkle the chopped nuts over.  Press the nuts gently into the dough.  This will ensure the nuts don't fall off after baking.
10.  Bake for 10 - 13 minutes.  Remove from oven and gently place on wire rack to cool completely before storing in an air-tight container.

Notes:
I used a teaspoon to help slide the chopped nuts over each cookie.  Less messy, and less waste versus sprinkling. 
If like me you have a super-small oven, keep the dough in the fridge until you are ready to roll out the next batch.  If the dough is too soft, it is very difficult to roll into balls.  You get hand-cream.
Don't fuss about getting them into perfect balls because you will flatten them anyway.  Some imperfections just proves that you have lovingly made these by hand :)

By the way, don't try to carbon-date my age just because I was taught Home Science in school :D