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Tuesday 17 August 2010

Chrysanthemum & Green Tea

 Chrysanthemum & Green Tea
Yesterday I browsed around China Town and found dried Chrysanthemum! I'm sure most of us have tried Chrysanthemum tea at Chinese restaurants. The first thing you notice with this tea is the relaxing smell and the mild not bitter taste! I like green teas but sometimes if you've stewed the drink for too long it starts to get bitter.
Not so with this tea!

 I don't really know the official way to make this tea but I like to make it my way since it taste great and looks even better! ^__^


Chrysanthemum & Green Tea Recipe (2 cups)

Ingredients:
  • 1 handful of dried Chrysanthemum
  • 1 green tea sachet
  • 3 cups boiling water

Preparation:
In a Tea pot or a Cafetiere add the tea bag and the chysanthemum. Pour boiling water over it and let stew for 3mins. Strain and pour into the cups.

Tips: 
  • with this tea you don't really add sugar or sweetener but a dash of honey might be a better option if you prefer something sweet.
  • you can strain your tea or let the chrysanthemum float in your cup! I make mine unstrained as it makes for a much more interesting cup of tea and looks very pretty!  

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Wednesday 11 August 2010

Pizza Night!

Pizza!
Making Pizza at home is quick and easy. It is a lot healthier and you can put in what you like. I made some yesterday for dinner just before going out to watch the new movie Inception. I actually made four pizzas but don't have many pictures to upload as I was in a hurry and kind of had to rush things. Anyway here are the pictures and the recipe. I used ready made pizza bases, its easy and less messy! I bought mine from Morrisons, the basic pizza bases they are very cheap, 2 in a pack for less than a pound. Mozzarella cheese was cheap too for about 49p per pack! fab! 

Pizza recipe

Ingredient
  • 2 packs of ready made pizza base 
For toppings
  • 4 mozzarella cheese 125g each grated
  • 1 pineapple can (chunks)
  • 1 cup sweet corn
  • 6 medium size mushrooms sliced
  • 1 capsicum chopped
  • 1/2 onion diced
  • 1 cup chicken chopped
For Sauce
  • 1 cup tomato passata
  •  1/2 cup bolognese sauce
  • 4 tbs ketchup sauce
  • 1/2 cup sweet chili marinade 

Preparation
  • Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees. 
  • Marinade the chicken and leave it aside.
  • Mix the passata, bolognese sauce and ketchup sauce together in a bowl.
  • Layer the pizza base with sauce then cheese and then the rest of the toppings you like as shown in the pics.
  • Lower the oven heat to 180 degrees.
  • Put the pizza in the oven for 15-20mins or until the cheese has melted and the chicken is cooked.
  
Tips: For toppings pineapple and sweet corn was a good combination so was sweet chili chicken and sweet corn. 

 



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Wednesday 21 July 2010

Gyoza Recipe

Chicken Gyoza

Today is just the second day of starting this Blog. While I was thinking what to put up, I remembered having made some Gyozas (for freezing) couple of nights before and thought this would be a really good recipe to put up. It's really scrummy! I'm calling it Gyoza but the Korean Mandu, Chinese dumplings and the Nepalese Momo are all very similar other than a few extra ingredients.

There are really a lot of various ways you can make them. I usually just use what I have got and throw stuff together and it turns out good. Cooking for a long time can do that to you. Like how your mums cooking always tastes good no matter what she cooks. 

The mince chicken can be substituted for mince lamb or pork. I have omitted the cabbage since I've run out of them. It's a good idea to make a big batch of these to freeze and use them later when you want.

Chicken Gyoza

Ingredients
  • 500g mince chicken
  • 2 medium onions minced
  • 1 spring onion minced
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp potato starch
  • 2 tbsp garlic paste
  • 1/2 tsp ginger paste
  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 packs of gyoza skins
  • flour for dusting
  • water for wetting the gyoza skin edge
Preparation

In a large bowl add the mince chicken, all the wet ingredients, ginger and garlic paste, potato starch, black pepper and salt.

Mix thoroughly so that it becomes a nice smooth paste. This will help make the gyozas juicy.

Then add the onions and spring onions and mix again. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave in fridge for 30 mins. 

Line a baking tray with baking paper and sprinkle some flour and leave aside.

Remove a gyoza skin, add a little of the chicken mixture in the middle as shown in the picture.
Fold the gyoza in half. Wet the edges of the gyoza skin with water. Then starting from the left opening; fold a pleat with your right hand and press with your left thumb. Repeat this action until you reach the other end and then re-press gently to stick them. Place them on the baking tray.

For freezing: Wrap the baking tray with cling film and freeze for 24hrs then remove and place them in freezing bags. This way they won't be frozen stuck together.

Heat a large non-stick pan in medium-high heat and add a little oil. Place the gyozas in the pan. Fill the pan with boiling water until they are half covered. Cover the pan and cook until the water evaporates (5-7mins). Then drizzle some oil in between the gyozas and cook for further 2-3mins or until the gyozas are golden brown underneath. 

Serve golden side up with chili sauce or soy sauce.


Chicken Gyoza

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Tuesday 20 July 2010

Korean Pancake Recipe

Korean Pancake (Pa jeon)
This Korean Pancake recipe is easy to make and can be modified to your taste. This recipe is something I modified to my taste so please add or omit ingredients as you see fit.


Korean Pancake Recipe Ingredients:
  • 2 Cups of Ottogi Korean Pancake Mix
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1/2 Cup Water
  • 1 Cup Carrot Julienne
  • 1 Cup Broccoli thinly sliced
  • 1 Cup Seafood Mix
  • 1/2 Cup Board Beans
  • Salt to taste
  • Oil for cooking
Preparation:

Mix Pancake mix and eggs in a large bowl. Then Slowly add water. Keep track of the consistency of the batter. It should be the same consistency as when you make normal pancakes. Add the rest of the ingredients and salt to taste. Mix the batter well.

Heat a pan to medium heat. Coat with oil. Pour the batter into the pan and layer it as thinly as possible as shown in the picture.

Cook until the pancake is golden brown underneath. Turn over and cook until golden brown again.


Turn off heat Place Pancake on a chopping board. Cut the pancake vertically and horizontally into bite size pieces and serve.


Tip: Adding more oil makes the pancake more crispy.









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The Start

The Start of this Blog is mainly to showcase series of my amateur photography skills. Since this is the very beginning, I want to try a variety of things and see where it takes me. So you may see a wide range of things I may babble about or pictures of random things. As I said it is only the beginning...