Strawberry Ice Cream

This Summer has been an exceptional season for Strawberries.  They are sweet and juicy.  I have been having it for breakfast either with cereal or in juice.  The harvest has been so abundant, they are selling for as low as 50 cents a pound at the local markets.  So, I decided to uses them to make some homemade strawberry ice cream.  It's a hit for both children and adults.  The recipe is very simple.  So, if you happen to have an ice cream maker, do give it a try.

Ingredients:
2 cups of fresh strawberries (cut in quarters)
1 cup of sugar
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
2 cup of whipping cream
1 cup of milk

Directions:
1.  Follow your ice cream maker's instruction and freeze your freezer bowl ahead of time.
2.  Add all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.
3.  Pour mixture into the pre-frozen freezer bowl and turn on the machine.
4.  Let the turn until the mixture is thicken, approximately 20-25 minutes.
6.  Pour the ice cream into a box and put in freezer for 4 hours to set before serving.

Variations:
Some great fruit variations in flavor are mango, peach, raspberry, avocado, pineapple, and of course, the king of fruit, Durian!!!  Simply substitute the strawberries with the fruit of your choice.

Enjoy and stay cool!

Bread Pudding

One of my favorite dessert is bread pudding.  Whenever I have week old leftover toast and don't know what to do with it, I would use it make a wonderful bread pudding.  I hope you will like it too.

Ingredients:

5 thick slices of toast (shredded into small pieces)

5 large beaten eggs

15 teaspoons of granulated sugar

1 ½ cups of milk

1 tablespoon of Cognac (optional)

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

½ cups of strawberry cut into quarters (or fruits of your choice)

For the Toppings

¼ cup (½ sticks) butter soften

10 teaspoons of brown sugar (save 4 teaspoons for later use)

¼ cup of raisins

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven at 350 degrees F.  

2.  Grease a 8x8 baking dish.  

3.  Mix the eggs, sugar, milk, vanilla extract and Cognac together, then add in the shredded toast and strawberries.  Pour mixture into the greased baking dish, and let it seat for 10 minutes.

4.  Spread the crumbles on top of the pudding mixture and sprinkle the remaining brown sugar on top.  

5.  Bake for 35-45 minutes or until set.

6.  Dust a layer of powder sugar before serving.  Serve warm or cold. 

Serves 9

Tuna Rolls

What do you do when you bought too much hot dog or burger buns for a BBQ and you don't want to do another BBQ the following week?  That's exactly what I got in my fridge, a bag of hot dog and burger buns. Opened the pantry door and found a couple of cans of tuna, and I thought, tuna rolls would make a great yummy lunch!

Ingredients:

8 hot dog buns

3 large eggs

2 cans of tuna (10 oz)

1/4 cup of finely chopped yellow or red onion

2 tablespoons of mayonnaise

2 tablespoons of sour cream

1/4 teaspoons of salt

1/2 teaspoons of white pepper

1/4 teaspoons of paprika

Directions:

1.  Boil and chop eggs.

2.  In a medium bowl, mixed all ingredients together.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

3.  Lightly toast buns before filling it with the tuna mix.

4.  Sprinkle some paprika on top for garnish.

Variations:
To make a lobster or crab roll, simply substitute the tuna with lobster or crab meat.

Japanese Cheese Mushi Cake

Unlike the New York Cheese Cake which is thick and creamy, this is a very light and fluffy cheese cake. The taste and texture are quite different, but just as good.  Give it a try!

Ingredients: 
5 ounces of fine granulated sugar
6 large eggs (yolks and whites separated)
1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar
2 ounces of butter
9 ounces of cream cheese
3 ounces of fresh milk
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
2 ounces of cake flour

1 ounces of corn starch
1/4 teaspoon of salt

Directions:

1.  Melt cream cheese, butter and milk over a double boiler. Cool the mixture. Fold in the flour, the cornflour, egg yolks, lemon juice and mix well.

2.  Whisk egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Add in the sugar and whisk until soft peaks form.

3.  Add the cheese mixture to the egg white mixture and mix well. Pour into a 8-inch square or round cake pan (lightly grease and line the bottom and sides of the pan with parchment paper).

4.  Bake cheesecake in a water bath for 1 hours 10 minutes or until set and golden brown at 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

5.  Remove the cake from the pan to let cool.

6.  Sprinkle some powdered sugar before serving.

Tofu with Soya Sauce

This is a very versatile dish that can be served either hot or cold.  Great to serve with rice.

Ingredients:

1 box of Silken Tofu

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoons of sesame oil

1 teaspoon of sugar

1/4 teaspoon of Hondashi

1/2 teaspoon of corn starch

2 tablespoon of water

1 stalk of green onion (finely chopped)

Directions:

1.  Remove the tofu from box and put in a deep dish.  If to serve hot, steam it over water for 15 mins or microwave it for 1-2 minutes.  Remove the water when done.

2.  Heat up a sauce pan, add in the soy sauce, sugar and hondashi.  Stir until sugar is disolved.

3.  Mix the corn starch and water.  Add to the soy sauce mix when its boiling.  Stir until the sauce has a slight thickness.

4.  Pour the sauce over the tofu, and drizzle in sesame oil.

5.  Garnish with the chopped onion and toasted sesame (optional)

Tips:

Hondashi can be find at any Japanese or Asian supermarket.

Minced Sundried Shrimp

I first tried this side dish at a porridge shop in Singapore.  I don't usually like the taste of sun dried shrimp, however, the way they prepared it, tasted really great especially with the porridge.  It's a bit salty with a hint of tartness, perfect pairing with the plain or sweet potato porridge.

Ingredients:
4 oz of medium dried shrimp
2 tablespoon of oil
2 tablespoon of minced garlic
2 tablespoon of dried shrimp water
2 tablespoon of light soy sauce
1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
1/2 a lime or lemon

Directions:
1.  Rinse and Soaked the dried shrimp in hot water for 1 hour.  When done, take out the dried shrimp and save the water for later use.
2.  Minced the shrimp on the chopping board or in a food processor.
3.  Heat up a medium size pan with 2 tablespoon oil, add in the shrimp and minced garlic.
4.  Stir-fry for 1 minute, add in the dried shrimp water and continue to stir-fry for 5 minutes.
5.  Add in the light soy sauce, dark soy sauce and sugar.  Stir-fry until ingredients are well mixed and dried.
6.  Serve immediately or put in refrigerator for later consumption.
7.  Squeeze in some lime or lemon just right before servings.

Tips:
1.  A great side dish or add-on for porridge, steam rice, or noodle.
2.  The leftover shrimp water can be freeze for later use in soup.

Recommended Pairing Dish:
Sweet Potato Porridge