Ham and Cheese French Toast

Tired of your typical french toast?
Why not stuff them with ham and cheese?
These two ingredients just belong to each other, you'll never go wrong with them.
It's definitely ideal for breakfast or even a quick weeknight dinner.

This Ham and Cheese French Toast tasted fabulous on its own!
I bet it'll taste great too, if I were to stuff some mustard and pickles for that sour tang.
Oh, how about sweet alternative to savoury stuffings?
Nutella and sliced bananas french toast with powdered sugar dusting for dessert!
Possibilities are endless. Yah, perhaps next time!

Ingredients

4 slices white or wholemeal bread, whichever you prefer
2 pcs honey baked ham
2 slices cheese
2 medium eggs
1/4 cup milk
salt and pepper
some butter

Method

Lay out the bread slices.  Fill with cheese and ham and top with the other bread slices.
Whisk eggs and milk in a shallow dish. Season with salt and pepper.
Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat. Add just a little butter.
Dip bread into egg mixture and turn to coat.
Cook in the pan for about 3 minutes each side or until golden brown.
Slice the ham and cheese french toast and serve.

Buttermilk Blueberry with White Chocolate Muffins

I have just received two new cookbooks on Friday and while browsing the books, Blueberry Muffins recipe caught my attention.  I love making muffins just because they are really easy and quick to make. You do not need a mixer to make them. All that's required are just two bowls - one for dry and another for wet ingredients. Mix them both together, and your batter will be ready.

I made some Buttermilk Blueberry with White Chocolate Muffins yesterday and am totally happy with the results.  The recipe that I saw used plain yogurt but I used buttermilk instead and that surely helped to make the muffins moist and tender. The crust was wonderfully crisp and the muffins were just bursting with blueberries. I had also added some white chocolate since I had a couple of bars in my pantry.

Ingredients

2 cups self raising flour
1/2 cup caster sugar
a pinch of salt
125 gm blueberries
70 grams white chocolate, chopped (use more if you have)
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg, lightly beaten

Method

Preheat oven to 175C.
Lay 12 paper liners in muffin tin.
A - In a large bowl, mix together, flour, salt, sugar, blueberries and chocolates.
B - In another bowl, combine buttermilk, oil and egg.
Incorporate B into A and using a spatula, fold in the flour till just moistened.
Spoon mixture into the muffin tins and then bake for about 25 - 30 mins or until a pick/skewer inserted comes out clean.
Stand muffins for about 5 mins before turning out to cool on a wire tray.

Note: Muffin crust is crisp once it is out of the oven and will soften once stored BUT rest assured that they taste just as good!

Sausage and Cheese Muffins

I am sort of on a roll .. another blog post!!
On a roll or otherwise, Tihani, my 9 year old, needs breakfast.
I havent been a great mum, let alone a good mum.
At times or most times rather, Tihani goes to school WITHOUT breakfast.
This year, she specifically says that she wants breakfast before heading to school just so she can get her brain to work.
Alright, this girl needs breakfast to jumpstart her day!

Cereal, bread with cheese, oats, bread with nutella, cereal, bread with cheese ....
HELP!! I am in need of more tasty and easy breakfast ideas!!
I guess I need to break from feeding her the norms and have a change of menu and thought this would make a nice breakfast for my daughters - Sausage and Cheese Muffins - and so I baked some last night.

There you have it .. savoury breakfast for today!

Ingredients

2 cups self raising flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
3 sausages, boiled and finely chopped (or more if you like)
1/2 cup vegetable oil (i used canola)
1 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten

Method

Preheat oven to 175C.
Lay paper cases in muffin tins.
A - In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt, cheese and chopped sausages.
B - Combine egg, oil and milk.
Incorporate B into A and using a metal fork, fold in the flour till just moistened.
Spoon mixture into the muffin tins and then bake for about 25 - 30 mins or until a pick/skewer inserted comes out clean.
Stand muffins for about 5 mins before turning out to cool on a wire tray.

Banana Nutella Croissant Pudding

Just 8 measly posts for year 2011 :(
I have been procrastinating alot and have not been productive in the kitchen.
Yep, I totally didnt find any mojo to update my blog for 2011 and that's really a shame.

I do hope to find more time to try new recipes and update my blog this year.  Lets see how it goes.
I have already some recipes in mind that I want to try, like David Rocco's Tiramisu and Joy of Baking's Cranberry Upside Down Muffins and had in fact stocked up my pantry and fridge with the required ingredients.

But for now let me share with you this sweet, rich and satisfying dessert to kick off 2012 - Nutella Banana Croissant Pudding.

By the way, World Nutella Day is happening on 5 Feb 2012 and I am also going to share this recipe at nutelladay.com

Croissant cut lengthwise and slather with nutella and topped with chopped bananas.

Croissant soaking up all the custard goodness.

Banana Nutella Croissant Pudding ready to be served.

Ingredients

6 - 8 croissants
nutella, just enough to spread on croissant
2 eggs
2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
2 small bananas, chopped

powdered sugar for dusting

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C.
Slice each croissant in half lengthwise then slather each side with Nutella.
Put the halves back together to make sandwiches and cut into 4 pieces.
Add croissant and bananas pieces to a baking dish.
To make the custard, add eggs, cream, vanilla extract, salt and sugar to a medium bowl and whisk until combined.
Pour the custard over the croissant pieces.
Leave the croissant to absorb the custard for a few minutes.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes then remove the foil and continue to bake uncovered for about 10 minutes until the bread pudding is golden brown.
Ensure that the liquid has been completely absorbed.
Let cool and then sprinkle on powdered sugar to finish.
Best served warm or with a scoop of good vanilla ice cream.

Vegetable Shell Pasta in Tomato Cream Sauce

I am on leave this whole week.  It is exam week.  A week I dread the most.
Thank god, there are only two papers to clear this semester as the third subject is project based.

I love the fact that I am able to plan what to cook for my girls for dinner when I am at home.

It is quick simple dinner today - Vegetable Shell Pasta in Tomato Cream Sauce.

I bought the vegetable shell pasta some time back at some fair that was held in school.

The rest of the ingredients are what I can find in the fridge - pasta sauce which is expiring soon, leftover frozen chicken franks and fresh mushroom which I bought a week ago to actually make mushroom soup but never did.

I prepared the ingredients about 45 minutes before the girls got home and by the time they got home and showered, the pasta is ready for my famished girls.

Ingredients

170 gm vegetable shell pasta

2 onions, diced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced (i used white and brown button mushroom)

4 pcs chicken franks, sliced diagonally
2 cups ready made pasta sauce

170 gm cream

some olive oil to fry

salt and black pepper to taste

Method

Cook shell pasta in a pot of salted boiling water till al dente.

Drain and wash under running water.

Saute the chopped onions and garlic in some olive oil.
Then put in the chicken franks and mushroom and fry for a little while.
Add in pasta sauce and cream.
Season with salt and coarsely ground pepper.
Put in the drained shell pasta and mix well.
Serve immediately.

Beef Pastrami and Brie Panini

It's Wednesday and it's a school day for me today.
There's only consultation and revision session and so school ended pretty early.
I left school and went to the nearest supermarket, NTUC at Tampines Mall. 

I was in the mood to make my own sandwich and headed to the halal meat and deli section.
As usual I asked for turkey ham and chicken poloni and somehow the kind lady over the counter recommended beef pastrami.  I've never bought pastrami before and thought why not?
So I ended buying turkey ham and some beef pastrami, my current favourite cheese, Brie, along with some other stuff.

Never tried a pastrami and brie combo?   
You've got to trust me.  It was heavenly. 
I swore I actually devoured the sandwich with my eyes closed. 
Let me exaggerate further.  It was really really good.

Ingredients

Country loaf - panini
Pastrami
Sliced red onion
Pickles
Mustard
Mayonnaise
Balsamic olive oil

Method

Slice the panini into half.
Brush some balsamic oil onto the panini.
Place the pastrami on the panini.
Then stack on some sliced brie.
Next, place the panini on a pan and grill until its heated through.
(Alternatively, you can grill them in the oven)
Then stack the slices of onions and pickles.
Slather some mustard and mayonnaise on the other half of the panini.
Flip this half of the panini to the other to form a complete sandwich.
Cut it into half and enjoy!

Corn Pudding

Today, when I woke up, I reminisced the times when mum would whip up easy desserts for us to enjoy.  Now that I am a mother, I always think of something to make for my two daughters to enjoy.

It is Sunday today.  Lazy Sunday to be precise.  I went to the nearest minimart to get some ingredients for Corn Pudding.  I remembered how my mum loved to make this dessert when I was a little kid and I remembered how easy it was to make them.

Remember the last time I made baked corn pudding?  Well, this is the non baked version.  Super easy to make and best served chilled.

Ingredients

1 cup custard powder 
3/4 cup caster sugar
1 can creamed corn
3 cups water
1 cup evaporated milk 
1/2 cup fresh milk
a pinch of salt

Method

Mix all the ingredients in a pot.
Cook it over a stove. 
Stir continuously as you do not want the custard to settle at the bottom of pot.
Stir till mixture thickens, bubbles and turns shiny.
Turn off heat and pour into little containers or one big one.
Allow to cool before putting it into the refrigerator to chill.
Once chilled, you may slice and serve.

Kuih Bakar Pandan

Kuih Bakar Pandan is one of my favourite traditional Malay kuih.
I love this sweet, soft and rich kuih which is laced with pandan flavour.

Traditionally, this cake is baked in a brass mould.
I didn't own any so I baked this kuih in a non stick pan instead.

It still tasted good to me with the slightly browned and crusty top.

Ingredients

2 cups self raising flour
1 cup caster sugar
2 small packs of coconut milk (200 ml a pack)
3 eggs
1 cup of pandan juice (i used about 3 tbsp of pandan paste + water to make a cup)
a pinch of salt
2 tbsp canola oil


Method

Preheat oven to 175C.
Grease a pan with 2 tbsp of canola oil and place the pan in the oven.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, coconut milk, egg and salt.
Take the pan out of the oven and pour mixture in the pan.
Bake in preheated oven for about 90 mins or until a toothpick inserted into centre of kuih comes out clean.
Allow to cool completely before cutting.