Blueberry Smoothie

These small round purple-blue berries are packed with so much goodness. They are rich in antioxidants, vitamin C, B2 and an excellent source of flavonoids. Blueberry smoothie is the perfect snack beverage on a hot summer day, or serve it as a meal replacement drink if you want to lose the few pounds you have put on from Christmas and New Year feasting.

Ingredients (2 small servings)
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
1 cup fresh milk

Method
Combine all the ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth.

Sweet delight - Banana Milkshake 濃香誘人的香蕉奶昔

Finally, a new post after MIA for more than four months!!! ;) My job is my new best friend (to keep up with the ever-increasing childcare expenses! It's $92/day this year, damn!) and I devote remaining spare time to the loves of my life - B&B. My camera has been sitting idle in the cupboard for months so I decided to check the battery life this morning. It's running low but I managed to capture some shots. Hence, this post... I am unofficially back to blogging.

If you are craving for something sweet, cool and refreshing this summer, here's a healthy nutritious drink to kick start your morning - Banana milkshake. It's super duper easy and quick to make. There are just three ingredients - 2 ripe bananas, 2 cups milk (about 500ml) and 1-2 scoops of vanilla ice-cream. Blend them all in a blender to your desired consistency. This makes 3 small servings.

Seafood Congee 海鮮粥

Hello folks, I know I have not been very diligent in updating the blog. :( Have been sick for more than a month and I'm still not fully recovered. My little kitchen is still in operation, just not as efficient as before. I'm hoping things will change with the help of the few kitchen gadgets that I recently acquired. ;) I'm really excited about my latest purchase - Buffalo Smart Cooker and can't wait to test drive cook with it. :)

Today I'm going to share the recipe of seafood congee, Mummy B's style. It's not the traditional Cantonese "jook" you will be expecting, but it tastes pretty good. I hope you will like it.

Ingredients
500 seafood marinara
1 medium sized carrot, diced
1 cup rice
1 bunch coriander, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 small piece ginger, julienne
Salt and pepper to taste
About 1.5l water/stock

Method
Put rice, diced carrot and water (or stock) in a large pot and bring to boil. As soon as it boils, lower heat, partially cover with lid and simmer for 40 minutes. Stir it every now and then to prevent the rice from clumping and sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Heat oil in a shallow frying pan, sauté ginger and garlic till fragrant. Add the seafood and gently stir fry them till just cooked (Do not overcook them). Remove the seafood and transfer to the pot of congee that is ready. Top with coriander leaves. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve immediately.

Pumpkin and mince stew 南瓜焖肉

I'm so far behind on blogging... Was sick for 3 weeks and only beginning to feel better this week. this extremely cold and wet winter really hit me hard... low motivation, carbo cravings, mental sluggishness just to name a few. >__<

I've a few recipes lining up, just no time to blog yet. Will play catch-up soon... ^__^

Up next is pumpkin and mince stew!

Updated recipe

Ingredients
1 quarter pumpkin, cut into pieces
200g minced pork, marinated with soy sauce and corn flour
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 small piece ginger, grated
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
1 tbsp oyster sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
Cooking oil
Water

Method
Heat oil in pan, sauté ginger and garlic till fragrant. Add minced pork and stir fry till brown. Gently break the mince up with spatula. Add soy sauce, wine and oyster sauce, mix them well.

Add the pumpkin pieces and some water, stir fry for a minute. Cover pan with lid and gently simmer for 10 minutes. Add more water if it gets too dry. Season with salt and pepper.

Dish and serve with steam rice.

White Radish (Daikon) Soup 白蘿蔔湯

The soup season has began! It's almost the end of fall and there's no better way to warm yourself up with a steaming bowl of soup. This is an easy recipe with four basic ingredients - white radish (also known as daikon), carrot, pork ribs and water. I would love to add some dried cuttlefish and dried oysters if I have some in the pantry but since I don't, I just have to make do with what I have.

Daikon is very low in calories and rich in enzymes to help in digesting fatty oils and starchy foods. It has anti-inflammatory and sedative properties, an excellent source of vitamin C, phosphorus and potassium. The health benefit of daikon is endless but you may want to add some dried red dates, geiji (wolfberries) or ginger into the soup to balance the "cooling" nature of daikon.

Ingredients
600g pork ribs
1 large sized white radish, cut into pieces
2 medium sized carrots, cut into pieces
1.2l water

Method
Blanch pork ribs in a pot of boiling water, about 5 minutes, to remove excess fats and scums. (Blanching the pork ribs/chicken gives you a clear soup).

Put all ingredients in a clean pot and bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer for 2 hours. Add salt to taste (I did not put any salt and seasoning as I like my soup to retain its original flavour).

Chinese Cabbage and Mushrooms Soup 冬菇白菜湯

This is a simplified version of my previous posting - Vegetables and Mushrooms Soup. I was craving for something light and refreshing after a few consecutive days of strong flavoured food.

I used Campbell's Salt Reduced Chicken Stock to save time (ahem, remember I am a busy working mum now?), soaked some Chinese mushrooms and coarsely sliced some Chinese cabbage. Bring everything to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve hot.

How simple can this get?! ;) Have a good weekend folks and a great time cooking in your kitchen!