Eat.Play.Cook

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Cook: Beetroot sweetcorn soup.

Sweet and Nutritious Beetroot Sweetcorn Soup

Difficulty: 1/5

My mum introduced this nutritious soup to me as an alternative to the usual lotus root, old cucumber and winter melon soup that I usually prepare for my family. She said that my brother-in-law loves this soup and whenever my mum cook this, he will always finish the whole bowl of soup including the beetroot.

I did a quick search on beetroot's health benefit on the internet and found out that this is a super nutritious vegetable.

According to BBC GoodFood website, beetroot helps with liver's detoxification process and the plant pigment, betacyanin may suppress development of some types of cancer e.g.: prostrate cancer although further studies need to be done to suggest a positive correlation (Cytotoxic effect of the red beetroot (Beta vulgaris L.) extract compared to doxorubicin (Adriamycin) in the human prostate (PC-3) and breast (MCF-7) cancer cell lines.)

Besides that, its high fibre content helps with bowel stimulation and may assist in preventing constipation.

And last but not least, its colour is so red and vibrant, my kids love to drink them , referring the soup as "the red soup".

INGREDIENTS:

1. One medium sized beetroot

2. One sweetcorn, remove the skin

3. A few pieces of pork rib bone (for halal version, substitute with chicken meat pieces)

4. One dried scallop (optional)

5. A handful of wolf berries

6. A handful of red dates

Ingredients used

HOW TO CHOOSE BEETROOT?

Choose a beetroot that is firm, smooth, not wrinkled with vibrant red-purple colour. Although beetroot is available all year round, it is the sweetest during its peak season from June to October so now it is a good time to start preparing recipes with beetroot :)

METHODS:

1. Wash the beetroot under running water and scrub the skin gently without peeling off the skin.

2. Cut the beetroot into quarters.

3. Put all the ingredients into a pot and add 2 bowls of water.

4. Bring to boil and then simmer for 45 minutes.

5. Remove the skin of beetroot (it will slides off easily once it is cooked) and the soup is ready to be served.

Beetroot after washing and scrubbing

How the inside of beetroot looks like...

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Cook: Creamy homemade mushroom soup

Creamy Mushroom Soup

Difficulty: 3/5

I make some non-bake chocolate cheese cake the other day and the results was good. The chocolate cake is very smooth and creamy, so decided to invite a few friends over to my place to share the cake and the calories, hehe!

Recipe for chocolate cheesecake can be found here:

Sinfully good non-bake chocolate cheese cake

We also decide to turn this mini gathering into a cooking get-together. One of my friend decided to try out one of the roast chicken recipe and so, i decided to make some baked cauliflower and mushroom soup to go with her chicken.

We had great fun cooking together and it was a great meal. Her roasted chicken was baked to perfection and very yummy. And i love how my mushroom soup turns out, very smooth and creamy.

INGREDIENTS:
(serves 4)

1. 200g of mushroom cut into small pieces (e.g.: shitake, portobello, button mushroom depending on your preferance)

2. One medium sized onion, cut to small pieces

3. 3 cloves of garlic, minced

4. 30g of butter

5. 200ml of whipping cream

6. 50ml of fresh milk

7. 250ml of chicken stock

8. 2 tablespoon of normal flour

9. a pinch of ground black pepper

10. salt to taste (optional as the chicken broth is quite salty already)

METHODS:

1. Melt the butter and cook the onion and garlic in the melted butter for 2-3 minutes.

2. Add the flour and mix well.

3. Add whipping cream, chicken stock and mushroom.

4. Mix well and bring to boil.

5. After the mixture boil, turn down the heat and let it simmer until the mushroom is tender.

6. Add salt and pepper to taste.

7. Take a few pieces of mushroom out and leave it aside.

8. Blend the mushroom soup and serve them topped with the mushroom pieces.

Mushroom that i used..

Cut mushroom into small pieces

Cook: Baked Cauliflower with Bacon and Cheese

Baked Cauliflower with Bacon and Cheese

Difficulty: 2/5

Had a cooking get-together today with my friends and I made Baked Cauliflower with Bacon and Cheese to compliment my friend's roast chicken with thyme and butter. The combination is great and we paired them with homemade mushroom soup as well.

INGREDIENTS:
(serves 4 as side dish)

1. One medium sized cauliflower

2. 350ml of fresh milk

3. 2 tablespoon of normal flour

4. 50g of butter

5. 2 slices of processed cheddar cheese (usual brand: kraft, cow head etc)

6. 3 slices of bacon

7. A handful of pizza topping cheese (as shown in picture)

METHODS:

1. Cut cauliflower into bite-sized and boil them for about 8 minutes until cooked.

2. Drain the water and place the cauliflower into baking tray.

3. Tear the processed cheddar cheese into small pieces and mix them evenly with the cauliflower.

4. Cut the bacon into small pieces and grill them until cooked (but no need to be crispy as the bacon will go into the oven again together with the cauliflower).

5. Heat the milk, flour and butter until boil and then simmer them until the mixture turns thick and creamy.

6. Pour the mixture into the cauliflower and spread the bacon and pizza topping cream on top.

7. Baked at 225 degree celsius for 20 minutes.

Cooked cauliflower after boiling in water for 8 minutes

Cauliflower and processed cheddar cheese in the milk/butter/flour mixture

Pizza topping cheese that I used

Before going into the oven

Monday, June 2, 2014

Play: 3 Days 2 Nights Sand and Sea @ Turi Beach Resort, Batam, Indonesia

We had a short family trip to Batam in October 2013.

After doing some research on the hotel in Batam, we settled for Turi Beach Resort that is located at Nongsapura, Batam. Hubby and me had been to Batam once few years back, after our ROM and at that time, we stayed at Harris Resort which is nearer to the town centre. As there is nothing much to do except a few shopping mall there, we wanted to choose somemore more idyllic so that we can spend all day at the hotel and the kids can have fun at the beach and the pool.

Montigo Resort actually caught our eye first but it has sold out due to the long weekend of Hari Raya Haji. So Turi Beach is our choice :) We booked through the hotel's website and bought the ferry ticket separately. It costs us SGD 300 for 2 nights stay, inclusive of breakfast , wifi connection and land transfer.

DAY 1

Qin Qin and me on board of Wavemaster Ferry :)

We took a ferry from Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal using Wavemaster ferry. The ferry is slighly smaller than Batam Fast but as there are less passengers taking Wavemaster ferry, there are a lot of empty seats and we do not need to Q for a long time to get on the ferry.

After reaching the Nongsapura ferry terminal, the hotel land transfer pick us up.


Little girl posing in the room

Little boy happily exploring the new room

View from our room

The pool

The room is comfortable with a double bed and high ceiling with view of the pool. However, one down side is that no bath tub, so will be having slight issue with showering our little boy....

After resting for a bit, wanted to have dinner but as there is a one hour gap of time difference from spore, restaurant is not opened yet, so we went to the beach and played with the sand.

At the beach

Little girl happily playing with the sand

Selfie with my boy

Two kiddos enjoying!

After some sand time, we had buffet dinner at the hotel restaurant, Taming Sari. The food is acceptable, not that great though... and little boy fall down from the high chair while we are eating, he cried very loud, it must be very pain.. luckily no issue afterwards. Hopefully no long term side effects.

One thing about the hotel is that at night, the walkway is very dark, it may be good if u wanna date, but with the kids, hubby has to use his handphone's light to show us the way....

At night, hubby and me went for a drink. Hubby has local beer and i had cocktail (tequila sunrise)..

Tequila Sunrise

DAY 2

The next day, the kids conquer the pool...


Girl girl started with soaking her legs, then slowly move her way into the pool

I also went for a papaya wrap while the kids are taking nap.... not so good, should have gone for the massage instead.

At night, we wanted to try the tepanyaki but we realised that it is closed on monday... :( so ended up at taming sari restaurant again....tomorrow night will not be around anymore so couldnt try the tepanyaki restaurant....anyone who wants to visit and plan to eat meal in hotel must plan carefully. as we didnt realise that the tepanyaki restaurant is closed on mon, we ended up having ALL our meals at taming sari, was getting bored at the end of it :P

Her favourite drink-freshly squeezed orange juice

Instead of having buffet again at Taming Sari Restaurant, we had a la carte instead.

DAY 3:

On the final day, when little boy is taking nap, girl girl and me had a quick tour around the hotel for some photos and then we took the mini van back to the ferry terminal and back to singapore. Even have time to had lunch at Star Vista.. we ate at Morganfield and it is really yummy. The spare ribs are great and the kids had complimentary kids meal.

selfie with girl girl

looking so demure

Taken by our little photographer

smiley little girl

another selfie

Playing with water

What an expression!

Cook: Blue Jewel Bake by my little girl

Blue Jewel Bake

Difficulty: 1/5

Recently, girl girl has been very interested in cooking. Her favourite programmes is "I can cook" which is aired daily at CBeebies. I have been watching together with her and saw that this "Blue Jewel Bake" recipe is relatively easy and girl girl will be able to do most of the steps of her own, so decided to make this for our lunch!

Recipe obtained from CBeebies I can cook website!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/i-can-cook/makes/i-can-cook-bluejewelbake/

INGREDIENTS (to make 6 pieces):

1. 1 egg

2. 100ml fresh milk

3. 1 teaspoon honey

4. 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

5. 1/2 teaspoon orange zest

6. 45g self raising flour

7. 30 blueberries

METHODS:

1. Beat together egg, fresh milk, honey and orange zest using a fork

2. Add flour, mix evenly

3. Add 5 blueberries into each muffin tray hole

4. Top up with the mixture prepared

5. Bake in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes @ 170 degree celcius

Girl girl preparing Blue Jewel Bake

Taste: It's yummy, texture a little bit like pancake, chewy. My girl loves them!

Cook: Homemade Preserved Mangoes

Homemade Preserved Mangoes!

Difficulty: 1/5

Got some unripe mangoes from my mum's friend's garden... and my mum suggested that I make some preserved mango with them. This recipe is passed down from my mum as she used to make this preserved mango when i was young.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 6 small/medium mangoes(as seen in picture, half ripped mango)

2. 6 tablespoon of sugar

3. 1 small chilli (Chilli Padi)

METHODS:

1. Peel the skin of the mangoes and then slice them into thin slice

2. Soak the mangoes in salt water for 15 minutes

3. Take the mango slice out from the salt water and put them into a glass jar as shown

4. Add sugar and chilli, mix well.

5. Placed in fridge for 3-4 days and then it is ready to be eaten

Peel skin of mangoes

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Eat: Super Value Ssikkek Korean BBQ Buffet Lunch @Junction 10

Date Visited: 24th April 2014 (Thursday) , 29th May 2014 (Thursday)

Visited Ssikkek BBQ Buffet @Junction 10 twice recently. Went there for the first time in April 2014 cause my mum says that she has never taken LRT before, so brought her and the kids on a LRT trip to Junction 10. There are very limited restaurant in Junction 10 and i heard good review from hubby's colleague who ate at Ssikkek BBQ Buffet so decided to give it a try. My mum and me enjoyed the food very much.. and mum kept saying that it is very yummy!

The price for the buffet is also very reasonable. For weekday lunch , it is priced at $14++ for adult, $9++ for children. For Sat/Sun/PH lunch and everyday dinner, it is priced at $24++ for adult and $18++ for children.

Although the choice of the food for the buffet is somehow limited, but the restaurant provide the main types of meat that is available in the usual korean BBQ restaurant namely the pork belly meat, chicken marinated in BBQ sauce, marinated pork chop and beef bulgogi. There are also kimchi, sauces to go with the meat, selection of carbonated and non carbonated drinks, mashed potato , lettuce, korean rice cake , spaghetti, curry chicken, kimchi soup , seaweed soup etc.

My personal favourite is the pork belly and chicken marinated in BBQ sauce. Overall, had a great time during both my visit at Ssikkek. Weekday lunch is definitely value for money but the location is kinda out of the way for most people. Highly recommended if you stay in the vicinity.

Note: If you are planning to take LRT to Junction 10 from Choa Chu Kang or transiting from MRT to LRT via Choa Chu Kang, you will need to alight at Bukit Panjang LRT Station, go to the opposite platform and then wait for LRT Service C which will go to Ten Mile Junction LRT station. The main LRT line which serves Choa Chu Kang DOES NOT GOES to Ten Mile Junction LRT station. Once you reach the Ten Mile Junction LRT station, take the lift down to Level 1 and you will reach the Junction 10 shopping mall.