Swedish Meatballs

Not sure why, today, I simply craving for the Ikea Swedish Meatballs. Did not want to make a trip to Ikea, so your faithfully here, decided to try my hand on making the meatballs myself. I used the Ikea recipe as a guide but modified alittle to suit my preference. And I have to say that it is not bad in taste.

I make it into a one dish meal with pasta and steamed vegetables.





Ingredients:
250gm minced beef
250gm minced pork
1 egg, lightly beaten
150ml milk and water
1/2 onion, finely-chopped
1 clove garlic, finely-chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour mixed with 1/2 tsp of baking soda
2 cold boiled potatoes
5 tbsps butter, margarine or oil (I Used canola oil)
Salt and white pepper for taste
All spices

Method:
1. Heat up the oil and add in the onion, stir fry at medium heat till fragrance. Add in the garlic and stir fry till golden.

2. Mash the potatoes, moisten the flour and baking soda in a little water.

3. Mix all the ingredients until there is consistency and flavour generously with salt, white pepper and a little finely crushed allspice.

4. Use a pair of spoons to shape the mixture into relatively large, round balls and transfer to a floured chopping board.

5. Fry them slowly in plenty of butter/oil.


Ingredients for cream sauce:
100ml milk
200ml beef stock
Dark Chinese soya sauce
1 tbsp cornstarch with 2 tbsp water
Salt, white pepper


Methods:
1. Swirl the boiling water or beef stock in a pan.

2. Add cream and thicken with white flour if preferred.

3. Season well with salt and pepper.

4. Serve the meatballs with the sauce, freshly boiled potatoes, uncooked lingonberry jam and salad. There you have the perfect Swedish meal!

Pork Congee

It is Thanksgiving Day, so your faithfully here just asked a couple of close friends over for a simple congee meal. A really simple congee, nice for cold weather and have a really good girls only chat.

It was really fun to have only girls chat and we have a good laugh over all the silly things that we have done.



Ingredients:
1 handful dried silverfish (soaked and washed a couple of time)
1 handful dried scallops (Soaked and washed a couple of time.)
2 cups rice grains
100gm minced pork (ground pork)
1 cup mixed vegetables
water

Method:
1. Wash the rice grains.

2. Add the soaked and washed silverfish and scallop to the rice grains and add in water to about 90% of the pot.

3. Put the pot to boil at medium heat. Stir occasionally.

4. When the porridge is cooked, add in the minced pork by using a spoon to bit by bit and allowed the porridge to simmer under medium heat till the grains came very soft and absorb most of the water.

5. When it is ready, serve with spring onions and sesame oil.

Oven Baked Donuts

Well, I have always thought of making oven baked donuts instead of eathe ing the deep fried ones and that they are more healthy and less calories and fat. And when a friend of mine give me a recipe and asked me to try it, I decided to modified it and came up with the below recipe and the photograph is the donuts that I have make.

I double the portion below and created 2 dozens of mini double chocolate donuts and 2 dozens of mini vanilla flavour donuts dipped in chocolate. And part of them became one of the two dishes that I brought to my friend's house of Thanksgiving dinner.

And I am going to share the rest with my neighbours.




Ingredients:
1 packages dry yeast
45 ml warm water
170 ml milk
90 ml oil
1/6 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla
(For double chocolate, just add 4 tbsp of Dutch Cocoa powder into the flour and sift together.)

Methods:
1. Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water in a cup and let it stand for 15 minutes.

2. Put the milk and oil in a big bowl for mixing.

3. Preheat oven to 400F.

4. Pour the yeast mixture into a large mixing bowl to mix with the milk and oil. Sift in the sugar, salt, nutmeg, egg and 1 cup flour. Beat briskly until well blended. Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups flour and beat until smooth. Cover the bowl and let double in bulk, about 1 hour in the oven with the light turned on.

5. Turn the dough onot a board generously dust with flour.Knead the dough a little as it is very soft dough. Pat the dough into a round about 1/2 inch thick. Use a doughnut cutter and cut out the doughnuts. Placing the on greased baking sheets, 1 inch apart.

6. Let the doughnuts rest and rise for 20 minutes uncovered. Bake about 10 minutes or a little longer, until they have a touch of golden brown. Remove from the oven.

7. Dip the donut half into the ready melting chocolate and let it rest.

8. When the chocolate is harden on the donut, can serve it with hot tea, coffee or chocolate beverages.

Pancake breakfast...

Well, there was a fire alarm on Saturday night again and not sure whether it is a false alarm. And this week, it happened twice and that really tired me out that I was not able to drag myself out of bed on a rainy Sunday. So instead of going to church, I listen to the sermon online.

After the whole sermon, I called Lynn and Jun to see whether they were home and could like to join me for a homemade pancake mini feast. Like me, both of them also overslept.

So here's what your faithfully has whipped up in a not so early morning about 9am. (To get to church in time, I usually left my place at 8am)



Buttermilk Pancakes

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp sugar
2 large eggs , lightly beaten
3 cups buttermilk
4 tbsp carnola oil


Methods:
1. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl. Add eggs, buttermilk, and 4 tablespoons oil; whisk to combine. Batter should have small to medium lumps.

2. Heat non-stick pan to middle heat and when pan is hot, pour one scoop of batter and allow it to cook for a while about 2 1/2 minutes when the top has bubble and edge is slightly dry. And then flip over and cook till bottom is golden.


3. Repeat with remaining batter, keeping finished pancakes on a heatproof plate in oven.

4. Serve with egg and sausages. Pancake goes well with cheese, butter, jams and maple syrup.