Awesome batter for Fish

Had left over salmon sashimi slices and decided to make battered fish for the kids. This is the recipe I went with plus some of my own seasoning. The result is very crispy batter and a happy #2. I'll try it with prawns after I'm no longer OD-ing over my Ngor Hiang and Bakwan Kepiting.

Original recipe from http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/crispy-fish-with-sweet-and-sour-sauce-1608. I only used step 1 for the batter.

Awesome batter for Fish - Thank you Epicurious!
1 cup plain flour
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons double action baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1 cup water

Mix them all together. Batter done.

Now for the fish! I coated each slice with cornstarch and dipped it in to the batter. I had left the fish and batter in the fridge til it was time for dinner (around an hour) and shallow fried them in hot oil.

Toddler verdict? Thumbs up!

Corn Onion Soup, Scrambled Eggs and #1's "Chicken Plain"

#1 is 5 and a half and #2 is almost 21 months old. They seem to have exchanged appetites. Ultra Super Duper Fussy #1 is now able to accept a wider range of food cooked in different ways. #2 Food Rader is now anti food, rejecting almost anything anyone makes. Brought it up to the pediatrician 2 weeks back and was given appetite simulators, calorie energy powder and MCT oil. Initially I was against it but she was firm about it. "#2 needs nutrition. It is VERY important for her". When I raised the concern that she will become fat, doc's reply was "She is very tiny, unlikely this will make her fat". And it is true. Even during #2's food rader-eat everything-eat more than her brother stage, she was still tiny - weight under 5th percentile, height 10th percentile. I'm not giving up and hope little #2 will bounce back soon (and #1 not to regress!).

Today's menu is like a reflection of my frustration. The more frustrated I am, the more I cook. (As a FTWM who works from home for 2 time zones, there are tons of frustrations.)

Woke up exceptionally early and decided to cook Corn Onion Pork soup. I bought this at a stall last week when #1 was sick and said "Mummy I want soup". It was very nice and I thought to try making it for both kids.

Corn Onion Pork Soup

Portion size: Family of 4

Pork - size of a 27g froot loops box (I use meat from the Long(2) Gu(4) )

Corn - 1

Yellow Onion - 1

Water 1.2 liters and more to top up

Salt if you like.

Pot used: Thermos Shuttle Chef 3L

Bleach pork and set aside. Remove husk and fiber from corn and chop into 1 inch thick. Cut onion into quarters, removing the dry outer layers. Place pork, corn, onion and water into pot and bring to a rolling boil for 15mins. Lower to a simmer for another 30mins. Place into thermal pot. Ready to be 3hours later. Add salt if you like.

As we are having this for dinner, I took the pot out for another 30mins on the stove after lunch hour. The soup would taste awesome when it's dinner time.

Since dinner is settled, I proceed to make breakfast and lunch for my kids who are still blissfully asleep. As the soup is coming to a boil, I started to prepare ingredients for pancakes, scrambled eggs, "chicken plain" and short grain rice for tuna maki (canned tuna + mayo rolled in nori, #1 new found fav).

Pancakes are out of the box. We love bisquick. Flipped the box over and followed the ultimate pancake recipe plus what we have in the fridge. We had chocolate chip, blueberry and plain. Anti-Food #2 had a few bites before having fun poking and squishing the blueberries. Suddenly-Hungry #1 had 3 whole pancakes on his own. Breakfast done and I'm smiling from ear to ear!

Using the pan from the pancakes, I made chicken plain. Chicken Plain is what my boy calls it. It's really simple, the taste is .... plain. But he likes it so here it is, #1's Chicken Plain.

#1's Chicken Plain

Portion size: 1 kid, 1 toddler

Chicken Breast or Chicken Tenderloin - palm size

Onion Powder - half teaspoon

Paprika - half teaspoon

Garlic Butter or oil 

Cut chicken breast into strips. If using tenderloin, it is not necessary to cut. 

Season chicken with onion powder, paprika and half a teaspoon of either garlic butter or oil.

Add some garlic butter or oil into pan, pan fry til it is cooked. 

At this point, I decided to throw in some sliced white button mushroom that are sitting in the fridge. It would taste wonderful with the scramble eggs that is coming right up..

here...

Scrambled Eggs. This is a recipe I read off my cousin's home econs book 28 years ago. I could no longer remember the portions or the method but what I remembered is wonderfully tasty eggs that stuck to the pot so much my aunt probably grumbled lots when she washed it. After watching way too much FoodAsiaNetwork shows, I've decided to try it cooking it again, this time using a "proper" method. Well, now it is an all time-any time favorite with my family. So here it is, Scrambled Eggs that my family loves.

Scrambled Eggs 

Portion size: 1 kid, 1 toddler and some for mummy

2 eggs

some butter - I use half a dessert spoon.

some milk - around a quarter cup

non-stick sauce pan

Google for Jamie Oliver or Gordon Ramsay or any decent chef. Watch their video on how to make basic scrambled eggs and follow the method.

Break eggs into sauce pan, add butter and milk. Turn on the heat, set to low. Whisk the egg, butter and milk together. Follow the scrambled egg method that you've seen. If not, the general idea is this - slow. When the egg starts to cook, remove from heat and use a spatula or a wooden/silicon spoon to fold in the eggs. Put it back on the fire and once you see the egg forming a curd at the bottom, remove from heat and fold in. Back on the heat. Repeat this process til you see the eggs are not liquid and is like a big curd. At this point you can serve it to an adult. For my kids, I prefer to have it a little more cooked so I have it on the stove for a min more.

You can add whatever you like with scrambled eggs. My kids love ham, I love mushrooms and they all went into the pot. Yummy! 

Now at this point I am feeling "de-stressed" and ready for another challenging work day. I practice "clean as you go" so wash up is minimal and that can wait. 

Their all time favourite

#2 has arrived at toddlerhood! yeah! she can say more than 10 words with clarity and use them in the right context. She can tell us when she doesn't want something -  "No" or "No No", when she wants something "Yes" or nod head or both and most impressively, when she poos - "Poooooo". She even gives commands and demands entertainment: You Do.

As she grows, her food preference changes. From watery porridge to thick porridge to teochew mueh to soft rice in soup. Feeding her is not as easy as before as she is fussier. 

With 2 kids that likes different textures for their rice, I've decided to rely on my trust electric steamer. In 30mins, I could whip up their favorite lunch, each dish made specific to their needs/preference.

Here's how I make lunch for Preschooler and Baby Toddler in 30mins

Prepare the following:

Rice for Preschooler - 1 Serving

1/4 cup rice

1/4 cup water

Wash rice and put rice with water into bowl for steaming. 

Soft Rice for Baby- 2 Serving

1/4 cup rice

1/2 cup water MINUS 1 tablespoon water for soft rice

Wash rice and put rice with water into bowl for steaming. 

Steamed Egg for Preschooler - 1 Serving      

1 egg  

Soy Sauce 1/2 teaspoon or a pinch of salt

water or dashi - use 4 times of half egg shell water. (this means egg to water ratio is 1:2)

Beat egg, water and soy sauce in chawanmushi cup.       

Steamed Egg for Baby - 1 Serving     

1 egg yolk      

Soy Sauce 2 drops or a small pinch of salt

water or dashi - use 2 times of half egg shell water

Beat egg yolk, water and soy sauce in chawanmushi cup.      

Steamed Ngor He for Preschooler (Threadfin) - 1 Serving 

Ngor He

Oyster Sauce

Ginger 1 slice

Place all into steaming plate

Steamed Ngor He for Baby (Threadfin) - 1 Serving 

Ngor He

Salt a small pinch

Sesame oil 1 drop

Rub salt and sesame oil over fish. Place all into steaming plate

Steamed Baby Eng Chye (Spinach)

Baby Eng Chye

Remove fiber from steam and separate leaves from stalk. Wash thoroughly. Place in steaming bowl 

Here's the timeline:

0min - Place rice into steamer.

15min - Place egg and fish into steamer

20-23min - Remove fish from steamer and put spinach into steamer. If fish is cooked, smash up fish in baby's bowl and flake the fish in preschooler's bowl. Check for bones and remove if any.

26min - Remove egg and spinach from steamer. Finely chop spinach and place in baby's bowl. Place spinach in preschooler bowl. Place steam egg into respective bowls. 

30min - Remove rice from steamer and place into respective bowls. Serve

      

Apple Pork Soup for baby & preschooler

As #2 moves into stage 2 of weaning, I start to find myself exploring recipes that is suitable for both a baby and a pre-schooler. Time is a constraint as #2 transforms from a sleep all day baby to a nap for 30 minutes super light sleeper. To add to the challenge, #1 is a very picky eater who insists on eating the same thing everyday.

Today, I've decided to try out noobcook's recipe Apple Pork Rib Soup with some tweaks of my own to make it baby friendly. The original recipe is found here: http://www.noobcook.com/apple-soup/.

Here's my version of Apple Pork Soup for baby & preschooler.

Ingredients
300g pork for soup - I used 龙肉 aka 龙骨. A wet market vendor will know what this is.
3 red organic apples
1 onion
1.2 liters of water

Method
Thermos Thermal Cooker

Time
10 mins prep, 6 hours total. Time away from baby - 15 mins.

Quarter and removed the core of 3 apples. Quarter and remove outer layer of the onion. Bleach pork in hot water and set aside. Place all ingredients and water into the thermal cooker's inner pot. Bring to a boil for 10mins then lower the fire to a small boil for another 20mins. Remove from heat and place pot into thermal cooker and wait for 5-6hours. Before serving, bring to a boil for 10mins.

I would do this at night after the kids are asleep and the soup will be ready in the early morning for me to convert it onto what the menu was for the day or served as-is with a pinch of salt for #1.

The result was 2 happy kids who wolfed down their lunch and a very satisfied mummy.

Basic Pork Stock

#2 loves her porridge and she likes it made with fresh stock. So I've been exploring how I can provide her with what she likes yet still not be a slave to the stove.

The very first stock made for her is pork stock. It's super simple with 2 ingredients and can be done in many ways.

Here's my Simple Pork Stock for baby's porridge.

Ingredients
150g pork - I used 腰肉 or 肉头
water

Bleach pork in water. Set pork aside. Now choose the method of cooking and it's done!

Method - Boil over stove. Time away from baby - 20-30mins.
Place meat and 800ml water into a pot and boil for 40-50mins. During cooking, check the water level and add water if too much water has evaporated.

Method - Slow Cooker. Time away from baby - 3mins.
Place meat and 500ml hot boiling water into slow cooker. Set on high for 3-4hrs or on auto over night.

Method - Thermal Cooker. Time away from baby - 5mins
Place meat and 800ml water into a inner pot and boil for 15mins. Place in thermal pot and it will be ready in 4-6hours. Bring to a boil before using.

Each method I tried yielded stock that are slightly different in taste. In short, the longer the stock is over the stove, the more intense the flavour is, the yummier the porridge will be. This also translate to longer time away from the baby, higher chances of burning the pot because I fell asleep nursing #2 and too much risk when number #1 is at home jumping around.

Thus, my preferred method of cooking stock is my trusty thermal cooker. I would cook the stock at night after the kids are asleep and bring it to a 2nd boil either before I sleep or in the morning before cooking the porridge. This would yield a favourful stock that will rival the one cooked 1 hour over the stove.

There are lots of other stuff that can be added to the basic stock and turn it into a yummy soup for baby. So far I've only used food that has already been tasted and confirmed as non allergen for #2. She been loving my experiments and that makes me happy.

Macaroni and Cheese

I've always loved Mac n Cheese. So when the time came to test recipes on my picky eater #1, I decided give Mac n Cheese a go. First recipe test was Annabel Karmel's Macaroni & Cauli Cheese. #1 loved it, #2 was allowed a lick n wanted more. But the Daddy refused to touch it, calling it baby food.

So when Ina Garten started cooking her Mac and Cheese on TV, I thought "why not"? I've got the cheese (v expensive!) and #1 did say "I want cheese sauce" for dinner.

I followed Ina's method, added in Annabel's cauliflower and came up with a "Daddy thumbs up" recipe.

Here it is, my Macaroni Cheese with hidden Cauliflower.

250g macaroni (I used chifferi rigati)
handful of cauliflower, cut into florets
150ml milk
2 dessert spoon corn flour
2 dessert spoon butter for the sauce
1 dessert spoon butter for the bread crumbs (optional)
3 slices of white bread, crust removed (optional)
3 oz Gruyere, grated
3 oz Mature Chedder, grated
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Water

Cook macaroni and cauliflower til al dente. While that is happening, grate the gruyere and chedder til you get 2 oz each.
Drain the macaroni and blend the cauliflower with a little water.
Add milk and cauliflower in a saucepan and heat (do not boil).
In a non-stick pan, melt 2 dessert spoon butter and add corn flour. Mix and cook over low heat for a minute. Pour heated milk into the butter/flour mixture and mix over low heat til it is slightly thickened.
Switch off the heat and add grated cheese, salt and pepper. Mix til cheese is melted.
Add macaroni and mix. Put macaroni in a baking tin if you are making the topping. If not, dish and serve.

For the topping, make bread crumbs by adding white bread to chopper/food processor. In a pan, melt 1 dessert spoon of butter and add the bread crumb. Mix and top the macaroni.

Put into oven and set it to grill on high for 2-3mins or til bread crumbs are golden brown. Dish and serve!

Serves: 1 Preschooler and 1 Hungry Daddy
Time: 45mins

Preschooler Rating: Thumbs Up
Hungry Daddy Rating: Thumbs Up

Links to Recipes that inspired me.
Annabel Karmel's Macaroni & Cauli Cheese
Ina Garten's Mac and Cheese