Peach-nectarine tarts

If pears and nectarines are among your favorite fruits plus if you also love tarts, here's a recipe for you. And you don’t even need a tart pan for this double-fruit dessert because the crust is simply folded up over the peaches and nectarines before baking. White peaches won't work as well in this tart because of their delicate texture.

Peach-Nectarine Tart

Ingredients
Parchment paper
Vegetable cooking spray
3/4 pound peeled nectarines, sliced
3/4 pound peeled peaches, sliced
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup peach preserves
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 (15-oz.) package refrigerated piecrusts
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 large egg
1 tablespoon sugar
Sweet Cream Topping (optional)


Preparation
1. Line baking sheet with parchment paper; coat parchment paper with cooking spray.
2. Preheat oven to 350°. Stir together nectarines, peaches, and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Let stand 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Unroll piecrust on prepared baking sheet. Roll into a 12-inch circle.
4. Drain fruit mixture, reserving liquid. Toss nectarines and peaches in flour.
5. Mound nectarines and peaches in center of piecrust, leaving a 3-inch border. Fold piecrust border up and over fruit, pleating as you go, leaving an opening about 5 inches wide in center.
6. Stir together egg and 1 Tbsp. water. Brush piecrust with egg mixture, and sprinkle with 1 Tbsp. sugar.
7. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until filling is bubbly and crust is golden. Carefully transfer tart on parchment paper to a wire rack; cool 20 minutes.
8. Meanwhile, bring reserved nectarine-peach liquid to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Boil 1 to 2 minutes or until slightly thickened. Let cool slightly. Brush or drizzle 1 to 2 Tbsp. hot nectarine-peach liquid over exposed fruit in center of tart. Serve immediately with remaining nectarine-peach syrup, and, if desired, Sweet Cream Topping.


Source: Southern Living

Meals in Minutes - Jamie Oliver's 50 quick meals

Jamie Oliver's Meals in Minutes: A Revolutionary Approach to Cooking Good Food Fast
By Jamie Oliver
Publisher: Hyperion

I'M too busy. It's too expensive. I don't know how.

These are the three excuses he gets, according to Jamie, when he asks people why they don't cook at home.

Meals in Minutes is Jamie's book in which he shares 50 meals for you to put on the table: meaty ones, vegetarian meals, quick pastas and desserts, curries and others - meals that you could have thought impossible in a short amount of time.

You will find each recipe on one page which makes the book really user-friendly - no need for flipping back and forth. Most of the meals in this book come complete with a starter, main course and dessert.

If you have watched Jamie's cooking tv shows, you would have noticed that he cooks his dishes simultaneously so expect the recipes on this book to be not the conventional recipe that you are used to.

Besides the gorgeous pictures, you will also find useful basic tips and suggestions such as his list of essential kitchen equipment. According to Jamie, without some of them, you won't be able to work fast enough. The ones you will need are the food processor, the blender, and the microwave oven.

Meals in Minutes (meant for the US market) is actually the equivalent of the British version, 30-Minute Meals.

Happy cooking!

Lemon Curd Tart

Here is a video on how to make lemon curd tarts..

Ingredients: Dough 500g flour 300g butter 200g fine sugar 4 egg yolks 1 whole egg Lemon curd 300g sugar
300g butter
9 egg yolks
6 whole eggs
juice of 7 lemons

Moroccan recipes

If you like Moroccan food and would like to try cooking it, here is a site that will interest you..Moroccan Recipes

Fried Clams in Chilli

Clams (locally called lala) are popular in this part of the world. You can cook them in soup with or without Chinese wine or you can stir-fry them with a few varieties of condiments and ingredients. If you like these mollusc spicy, fry them with chillis or black pepper or simply fry them with garlic and spring onions.
















Here is a recipe for FRIED LALA WITH CHILLI

Ingredients

600g fresh lala

1 clove garlic (smashed)

2.5cm piece of ginger, finely sliced

6 bird’s-eye chillies, finely cut

1 tablespoon fermented black beans (taucheong)

A few drops of light soy sauce

Salt and sugar to taste

A dash of Chinese wine (optional)


Method

Saute the smashed garlic, ginger and bird’s-eye chillies until fragrant.

Add the fermented black beans, light soy sauce, sugar and salt.

Throw in the lala and fry until cooked but not overdone, lest the texture of the flesh be rubbery.

Add a dash of wine (if using).

Dish up and serve hot.


Source: The Star

Chicken Curry and Onion Bread

Here's a recipe for a delicious Chicken Curry courtesy of Faridah Begum of The Star. Chicken curry goes well not only with hot plain rice. You can also have bread to go along with it or even pancakes. Besides the recipe for Chicken Curry, you will also find a recipe for making Onion Pancakes or Onion Bread as it is called.


Favourite Chicken Curry
Ingredients:

1 chicken – cut into 12 pieces

5cm ginger and 6 cloves garlic – pounded finely or blended with a little water

3 tablespoon cooking oil

1 onion – sliced

2 sprigs curry leaves

3 tablespoons meat curry powder

2 tablespoons kurma curry powder

Salt to taste

1/2 can evaporated milk

1 cup coconut cream

2 cups water

3 potatoes – cut into four

A few sprigs coriander leaves

2 tomatoes – cut into wedges

3 red chillies – halved and seeded

Method:

Heat the cooking oil and saute the onion, curry leaves and ginger paste until aromatic.

Add in the curry powders, salt and a little water to form a paste. Let the paste cook, stirring constantly until the oil surfaces and the paste thickens. Add the chicken pieces and fry for a minute or two. When the chicken is well coated, add the evaporated milk, coconut cream and remaining water. Let the curry come to a boil. Once it boils, add the potatoes and lower the flame a little. Cook until the potatoes soften, add the remaining ingredients and simmer for another five minutes.

(A tip: This curry tastes and looks better if cooked several hours before serving.)


Quick Onion Bread
Ingredients:

2 cups plain flour

1 egg

Salt to taste

1 onion – sliced

2 spring onions – sliced finely.

Water

Method:

In a bowl, place the flour and make a well in the centre. Put the egg and salt, then add water slowly as you bind the flour, egg and salt into a batter. Make up with water for a runny consistency, then add the onion and spring onions. For a spicier flavour, add sliced chillies. Allow the batter to rest for about half-an-hour.

Heat up a griddle, oil it and pour over it half a cupful of batter. Cook until the batter thickens and resembles pancake. Flip the bread, then fold in two. Serve hot with the chicken curry.


Source: The Star

Cooking With What Is Available

Cooking for the family day in and day out can sometimes take a toll on the person doing it. A little help on what to cook can be helpful, don't you think?

Here is a site that does just that. You just need to check off the available ingredients you have in your fridge, and voila! you will get a suggested recipe. Check out cookingbynumbers.com

Stewed Sweet and Sour Vinegar Trotter

A dish that is a must for Chinese ladies during confinement after the birth of a child is the stewed sweet and sour vinegar pork trotters though the dish is also popular any other time. Here is yet another recipe from Amy Beh.

Stewed Sweet and Sour Vinegar Trotter
1 pig’s trotter, about 2kg, cleaned and chopped into big pieces
1 litre sweetened Chinese black vinegar
700ml Chinese black vinegar
800ml water
600g young ginger, crushed
2 tbsp sesame oil
100g rock sugar
100g palm sugar (gula Melaka)
10 black dates (hak choe)
½ tsp thick soy sauce, for colour

Blanch trotter in a pot of boiling water for 15 minutes. Remove and clean under running water to remove any scum. Drain.

Heat sesame oil in a heavy-based pot and fry ginger until fragrant. Pour in both vinegars and water, cover and simmer for 30 minutes before adding the trotter, both sugars and dates. Cover and bring to the boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer for an hour or until trotter is tender. Stir in thick soy sauce for colour and allow the trotter to soak in the sauce until the flavour has developed before serving.

Marmite Pork

Lately, meat cooked with Marmite or Vegemite has been popular. If you would like to give it a try, here is a recipe from Amy Beh.

Marmite Pork
600g belly pork, cut into 2cm x 4cm pieces

Seasoning
2 tbsp light soy sauce
½ tsp thick soy sauce
½ tsp Chinese five spice powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp tapioca flour

Marmite sauce – (combined)
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
A little thick soy sauce
2 tbsp Marmite yeast extract
1 tbsp maltose
1 tbsp honey
Dash of pepper
300ml water

Thickening
1 tbsp cornflour mixed with 1 tbsp water

Marinate pork with seasoning ingredients for several hours or preferably overnight in the refrigerator.

Heat enough oil in the wok and deep-fry marinated pork pieces until golden brown. Drain and set aside.

Heat a little oil in a wok and add combined Marmite sauce ingredients. Bring to a simmering boil, then add the pre-fried pork. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes or until pork is tender. Thicken sauce with cornflour mixture.

Crustless Pumpkin Pie

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Wouldn't it be nice when family and friends come to visit over Thanksgiving weekend, you have an extra dessert on hand that everyone will love (especially the kids!)? Here is a recipe for crustless pumpkin pie. Give it a try!


Crustless Pumpkin Pie
from Coming Home with Gooseberry Patch

4 eggs, beaten
15-oz. can pumpkin
12-oz. can evaporated milk
1-1/2 c. sugar
2 t. pumpkin pie spice
1 t. salt
18-1/2 oz. pkg. yellow cake mix
1 c. chopped pecans
1 c. butter, melted
Garnish: whipped topping, chopped walnuts,
cinnamon or nutmeg

Combine eggs, pumpkin, evaporated milk, sugar, spice and salt. Mix well and pour into an ungreased 13"x9" baking pan. Sprinkle cake mix and nuts over top. Drizzle with butter; do not stir. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to one hour, testing for doneness with a toothpick. Serve with whipped topping sprinkled with nuts and cinnamon or nutmeg. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

No Bake Peanut Butter Cookies

Makes 4 servings, 2 cookies each

INGREDIENTS
8 whole-wheat, natural graham cracker squares, finely ground
1/4 cup organic raisins
1/4 cup smooth natural peanut butter
2 Tbsps plus 2 tsps honey
4 tsps unsweetened coconut flakes
Your kids will love helping you make these peanut-butter-graham treats; you’ll love that there’s no refined sugar.

Combine ground whole-wheat graham crackers, raisins, peanut butter and honey in a small bowl. Pat into 8 cookies and press lightly in coconut.

NUTRITION INFORMATION: Per serving: 313 calories; 13 g fat (2 g sat, 0 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 46 g carbohydrate; 7 g protein; 4 g fiber; 284 mg sodium; 82 mg potassium.

3 1/2 Carbohydrate Servings

Recipe adapted from EatingWell.com

Rotisserie Chicken Avocado and Tomato Salad

Rotisserie Chicken Avocado and Tomato Salad
.

Serving Size: 6
2 cups chicken, pulled from cooked rotisserie chicken
½ cup Avocado, diced medium
1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 cup cucumber, peeled and diced medium
1 small red onion, sliced into thin rings
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 teaspoons canola oil
Salt and fresh black pepper to taste
2 cups Bibb lettuce, torn

.
Gently toss ingredients together and serve on a bed of fresh Bibb lettuce.Nutritional

.

Information per Serving:
Calories 178
Fat 12 grams (62.4% calories from fat)
Protein 11 grams
Carbohydrate 6 grams
Dietary Fiber 1 gram
Cholesterol 52 mg
Sodium 46 mg

.
Exchanges: 1 1/2 Lean Meat; 1 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 1 1/2 Fat.

.

Source: JourneyLite