Baked Ham 焗火腿

Even though today was not Christmas or any special day that we need to celebrate, there's no way to stop us from eating this gorgeous baked ham, a dish which my mom has learnt recently and became one of our occasional meal lately.

Best Blueberry Muffin 藍梅蛋糕

Is there really such a thing called the BEST blueberry muffin? Yes, and I just found one today. As usual, there are no big secret in the use of ingredients, except for the fact that sour cream is presented in the recipe. Why sour cream? Same rule for success to moist banana bread and now you know why. The muffin came out light and moist, so delicious and the sugar amount was just perfect with the extra sweetness that brought by the juicy blueberries. If you are afraid of that calories will give you some unnecessary weight, you may want to try the low fat version by substituting 2egg whites for 1egg, use applesauce instead of oil and use low fat sour cream. With all the changes, you could still taste the flavor of a normal full fat muffin but with so much lesser calories.

Best Blueberry Muffin (6 big muffins, 250calories each)
1 egg
1/4cup sugar
1/4cup brown sugar
1/2tsp vanilla
3tbsp oil
3/4cup flour
1/4cup whole wheat flour
1/4tsp salt
1/4 heaping tsp baking soda
1/2cup fresh blueberries
1/2cup sour cream

1) mix together egg and both sugar. Add in oil and vanilla.
2) in another bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking soda and blueberries, add to the egg mixture with sour cream. Stir until just combined (do not over mix)
3) bake in 400F preheated oven for 20mins.

Easy Brownie 布朗尼

Once in a while, you just need that sugar to please your crave for sweet. For missing brownie over half a year, today I decided to release myself a bit and allowed a piece of fatty brownie to treat my sweet tooth. Here, a simple brownie recipe that I want to share. The ingredients are relatively simple and you probably have them all in your pantry. The secret behind every chewy and fudge-y brownie is not too over-baked, instead, always under-baked.

Quick brownie Recipe (found on www.allrecipes.com ):
1/2cup melted butter
1cup sugar
2eggs
1cup flour
1/4cup cocoa powder
1/4tsp salt
1/4tsp baking powder
1/4cup chocolate chips

1) mix together melted butter, sugar and eggs. In another bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and chocolate chips.. Add flour mixture to the butter mixture, stir until just combined.
2) pour batter into greased pan (i used an 9x5inch loaf pan) and bake in 350F oven for 25mins. The batter should be still gooey inside and the outside is just set.

Zucchini patties with English muffin

A healthy life is maintained by a healthy diet.
One of My Everyday Lunch:
-1 English muffin (better to be whole wheat) 130calories
-1 zucchini patty 60calories
-1slice cheddar cheese 60calories

Zucchini parties recipe:
1cup grated Zucchini (do not squeeze out water)
1/2cup bread crumbs
1/2cup Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
1) mix together all the listed ingredients, form dough into small patties.
2) heat a small pan with oil, fry patties until each side is golden brown. Finish them off in the oven.

Japanese style Salmon 日式三文魚

I am always eager to try a Japanese recipe and today I finally got a chance to make something that is related to Japanese cooking- salmon served with teriyaki sauce ! Salmon is a really common dish in a Japanese restaurant, it often comes with a bowl of steaming hot rice, in which the sauce makes a good combination with the soft white rice and lovely pan-fried salmon. I'm glad that I could actually make my own sauce that tastes as good as the restaurant ones.

Teriyaki sauce recipe (3/4cup):
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp garlic powder
1tsp corn starch
2 tbsp water
1) in a small pot, combine together soy sauce, water, sugar and garlic powder, bring them to boil.
2) mix together corn starch and water, then add to the soy sauce mixture. Cook until sauce has thickened.

The sauce is good with everything, beef/chicken/fish.etc.
I chose to serve the sauce with salmon since that was I had on hand. To prepare the salmon fillet, I cut it in half, pick the bones out and season it with salt and pepper to take away that fishy smell. Before frying it, I also pat it with flour and drizzle some olive oil on top. The frying part doesn't take long, around 5mins per side. :)

Strawberry filled Cream puffs

This was not my first time making cream puffs, but it's the first time to make such a sexy cream puff that looks just like the one in a bakery shop. To achieve such a perfect looking cream puff, all you need is patient and not tired of washing dishes. Here is the rough timeline:
1) cream puff
-15mins preparing the batter
-30mins baking per batch
-10mins cooling

2) custard (depends on how are you gonna make it, I only used instant custard powder and all I need is to microwave it)
-5mins making
-30mins chilling in the fridge

3) whipping cream
-3mins whipping with electric mixer

4) strawberries (optional)
-3mins washing and slicing

5) Washing dishes
-30mins or above

So, basically this little cream puff took me the whole afternoon and yea.. So .. Really time consuming

Baked oatmeal with cherry

Baked oatmeal with cherries Recipe: (1serving)
2tbsp oats
1tbsp flour
1/4tsp cinnamon
1 egg white
1/4cup milk
1tbsp honey
5 fresh cherries, halved and pitted

1) in a ramekin, combine oats, flour and cinnamon. Add egg white, milk and honey to the dry mixture, stir in cherries.
2) bake in 400F for 25mins. Let it sit for 10mins before serve.