Strong Bones 1

Everyone knows how important Calcium is for strong bones. A glass of milk or a slice of cheese a day, yada yada. You know the drill. But me being me, and holding true to this:

Kindly note that diets & low-fat whatevers are not in the menu.

do you actually think I’m gonna share about a boring ole glass of plain milk and a plastic-tasting slice of cheddar?

There are 1001 recipes that feature these calcium-laden ingredients, except that they’re presented in a slightly more appetising manner. I’ll be posting a couple in these series: Strong Bones.

Now, for the 1st instalment and going a little easy:

Flourless Cheese Fritters for a start?

1 cup grated Mild Cheddar

1/2 cup Breadcrumbs

1/2 tsp Paprika

1 tsp Dried Chilli Flakes

1/2 tsp White Pepper

1/2 tsp Dried Oregano

1/2 beaten Egg (or less)

Olive oil

The preparation is pretty simple – Combine all the ingredients (cheese, breadcrumbs, paprika, chilli flakes, pepper & oregano) in a bowl. You could vary the herbs according to preference though.

Add just enough egg to glue these together. The mixture should be semi-dry, making it easier to fry.

Yes, you read right. FRY.

Whip out your non-stick weapons now, lovelies cos We be fryin cheeeeeeeeze!

Frying cheddar can be a little tricky, and it takes some care. Drizzle a little olive oil and heat the pan a little before dropping a tablespoon of cheese mixture each. The cheese will melt (ermz duh.), then it’ll turn slightly brown, and then it’ll almost immediately form a crust. Once you reach this stage, then flip it. Flipping it while all that yellow goo is melting spells disaster – speaking from experience of course!

I don’t know if this is of any consolation; but I made mine in one of those tiny frying pans that’s barely the size of an egg, you could easily hunt at Daiso that I’m sure you’d go “Awww so cute!! But who will buy and use that?” Lol, me? They’re certainly neat to have – holds all that misbehavin’ cheese in a perfect round form. Enjoy!

Till, the next instalment of Strong Bones!

P.S.: Fazdli, YES there’s more. Time to throw that healthy diet out the window!

Golf Ball-Sized Cakes?

Unbeknownst to me, my Dad has been following my blog. Lol, as if it is not already enough of a shocker that I have guy friends reading about recipes (whot?!), I discovered my Dad does too. This is how I found out today:

4.30pm in the living room while watching Food Network Asia

Dad: Dah lama tak buat kueh yang coklat Hershey’s tu eh.

[It’s been a while since you made a kueh with Hershey’s chocolate.]

Me: Kueh apa sey pakai Hershey’s? Kek eh?

[Which kueh uses Hershey’s? Cake, you mean?]

Dad: Macam kek tapi yang bulat kecik, size golf ball. Yg hari tu buat, tapi dalam ade apple dengan kacang.

[It’s similar to a cake but golf ball sized. You made some the other day, but with apples and nuts.]

Me: *ponders and recalls the Apple Almond Muffins I made earlier this week* Oooohhh Muffin eh?!

[Oooohhh Muffins, you mean?]

Dad: A’ah buatkan Abah untuk buka boleh? Dah buat boleh share recipe kat your website masak-masak tu.

[Yeah, could you bake some for me? Then, you can share it on your cooking website.]

WHOT!?

Can I just say that I have the most awesome Dad in the world? LOL! I found myself giggling in the kitchen while preparing these Oatmeal & Chocolate Muffins for Iftar today.

Well, anyway, this muffin recipe is one that I stumbled upon a few years ago in a book for which I have no recollection of the title nor the author. But I’m indeed grateful for it, because I’ve stopped my seemingly endless hunt for the perfect muffin recipe.

Believe me when I say, when done right, it makes;

The most moist and softest muffins evuh.

Here are the ingredients:

1 cup Quick-cooking Oats

1 cup Buttermilk

1/3 cup Vegetable Oil

2/3 cup Brown Sugar

1 Egg

3/4 cup Flour

2 tsp Hot Chocolate Powder

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Baking Powder

½ tsp Baking Soda

1 cup Hershey’s Semi-sweet Chocolate chips*

* You can add a few broken pieces of Hershey’s Dark Chocolate if you’re a chocoholic. A few more tiny bits of choc wouldn’t hurt right?

Mix oats and buttermilk in a bowl. Let it sit for about 30 minutes.

In a separate bowl, combine oil, brown sugar and egg. Stir with a fork till the sugar dissolves. Add em to the oat & buttermilk mixture.

Lastly, sift all the dry ingredients in (flour, hot chocolate powder, salt, baking powder and baking soda). Fold the dry into the wet ingredients with a wooden spoon. Sprinkle the chocolate chips just before carefully spooning dollops of batter into muffin cups.

The mixture makes about 12 standard-sized muffins, but today I made only half a portion. Bake them at 180°C for 20 minutes and then sit patiently in front of the oven. Trust me, you’d want to.

Frankly, baking anything Hershey’s transports you into a Willy Wonka-like chocolate-infused fantasy. Needless for an elaboration but… oh, the heavenly aroma and that first bite: oh-oh omg the chocolate is still warm mmMmmm.

In other news, there’s only 1 and a half muffin left in my tray, where there once was 6. Oh, the plight of competing with other Hershey’s-crazed chocoholics in the house.

PS: Dad, if you’re reading this, HI ABAH!! I LOVE YOU!! xx

Oyster Cravings

So, I went to the wet market today to get my stock of poultry and seafood.

And whilst picking through prawns and playing with cockles and crabs (hehe, you know how the cockles clam tight when you poke at them and how crabs blink!) this morning, I had the most random, sudden, where-did-that-come-from craving for oysters.

And they didn’t have any at the neighbourhood wet markets. Boo!

Fresh oysters with a pinch of salt and a generous squeezing of lemon, to be exact. Going crazy, right about now.

If you need to satisfy your craving (just like I do), I know a place where you can get em fresh ones for about 2 bucks a piece:

Live Seafood Supplies

670 Lor 42 Geylang

You’ll find more than oysters there – many odd sea creatures that look like they were resurrected from the Jurassic era. More picking and playing for me, yeay!

No guessing where I’m heading to grab me some.

And remember to get these ready too!

I’m comin’ to getcha! Can’t wait can’t wait!