Meatballs are great on its own or as a complement to sauce but even meatballs need a little innovation from time to time.

In this dish, you can use the usual meatball recipe of ground beef, egg, bread crumbs, cheese (the same recipe as my Burger Queen) or you can do it my funky way.

Tip 1: Make sure the balls are bite size. This way, it's perfect size for salad or skewer it with kiwi ala summer kebab
Tip 2: Annatto powder is an organic red orange colouring. It doesn't affect the taste of any dish.
Tip 3: IF YOU ARE ANYTHING LIKE ME? double the glaze and serve your meatballs with a little sauceon the side.
Tip 4: Imagine how yum this glaze will taste on roasted whole chicken leg?
Tip 5: You need to balance your glaze's taste,,, it has to be sweet and sour. Kiwi doesn't come in 100% identical taste and so you need to train your taste buds to achieve that sweet and sour balance.

After making this dish again just for good measure, IT IS MY PERSONAL OPINION THAT THIS GLAZE WILL WORK BEST ON A LESS STRONG CHARACTERED MEAT LIKE A BLAND HAM OR THE USUAL MEATBALLS. Spam seemed a bit too seasoned for the glaze. When I tried it with just the glaze, it screamed for more, when I made it swim in a sauce, well, it drowned.  

So if you do make this dish, just serve it with an extra sauce on the side.

Meatball Ingredients:
1 Lite Spam (it's less sodium and less fat)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup bread crumbs
dash of pepper

Glaze Ingredients:
4 Zespiri Kiwifruit, pureed
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vinegar
2 tablespoons water
1/8 teaspoon annatto powder dissolved in 2 tablespoon warm water
2 teaspoons cornstarch diluted in 4 tablespoons cold water
2 tablespoons water

Salad Ingredients:
1 Cucumber, sliced
2 cups mixed green salad
1/2 cup rocket leaves
1/2 cup to 1 cup roasted walnuts (depending on how much or how less you want it)

Glazed Direction:
Heat kiwi, sugar, lemon juice and annatto powder and water in a saucepan. Add cornstarch mixture, simmer until thick. Set aside.

Meatballs Direction:
Preheat oven to 350F.

Run spam through a food processor to resemble ground meat.

In a mixing bowl, combine spam, eggs, bread crumbs and pepper.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Form a ball by scooping 1 tablespoon of ground spam and rolling it gently through you hands. Place it on the baking sheet, giving enough space for air to move around.

Bake meatballs for 10 minutes, glaze. Do this process twice. Baking time a total of 30 minutes.

Assembling Direction:
Mix salad ingredients on a separate bowl. Place a cup of mix salad on the serving plate. Place Zespiri Kiwifruit slices on plate, top it with glaze meatballs. Brush plate with more glaze to up the ante or for additional sauce in case you want more than just a smudgeon. Serve immediately. 

You can be as creative as you want to be with this dish. Serve meatballs with the glaze as a side sauce and steam rice on the side. Serve meatballs with kiwi like a kebab, it's basically a dish that you can definitely play around.

*My kids preferred meatballs with an extra sauce on the side.

BeTcHa DiDn'T kNoW!
:) Zespiri Kiwifruit is an extremely rich source of Vitamin C. One Zespiri Kiwifruit a day can provide you with your daily dose of Vitamin C. It has two times the amount that oranges offer and five times nutrition than apples.
:) Zespiri Kiwifruit contains high level of Actinidin, an enzyme that helps with protein digestion
:) Zespri Kiwifruit is not just for garnishing, it is also a very good meat tenderizer so next time you  prepare beef? think kiwi.

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My children have a bad case of hay fever and it's definitely a condition any parent would rather wish their kids do not have especially in this place and climate. A twice a year flu season throws the whole school in chaos, I in definite panic. Most kids will recover after week with ample medicine and rest. My kids,,, not that easy.

Then I found out that kiwifruit is a rich source of Vitamin C (double the amount orange offers and 5 times the nutrition you'll get from an apple). One kiwifruit a day is enough to supplement your daily Vitamin C. Lucky for me, Zespiri kiwifruit in particular is on the sweeter side and so the possibilities are endless.

Tip 1: Re-use paperbag from fast food chains for breading. The best for coating, 100%. It absorbs extra moisture from meat which you do not want when deep frying. Leaves your to-be fried pieces perfectly coated all the time!
Tip 2: When deep frying breaded shrimp, you only need to deep fry for few seconds, once the oil bubbles starts to subside, it's time to fish them out. It will continue cooking while resting.
Tip 3:  Add more cayenne if you want your dressing spicier.

Kiwi Chili Mayo Ingredients:
1/3 cup pureed Zespiri kiwifruit
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 1/2 tomato ketchup
1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper or 1/8 teaspoon crushed chilis
1/8 teaspoon anatto powder dissolved in 4 tablespoons WARM water
1 teaspoon cornstarch diluted in 4 teaspoons COLD water
1/2 to 1 cup mayonnaise

Salad Ingredients
4 Zespiri kiwifruit, peeled and sliced bite size (whichever you prefer)
500 grams medium sized shrimp, cleaned, deveined and cut into 3
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup bread crumbs
250 grams calamari
1/2 cup cornstarch
Dash of salt and pepper
Lettuce, shredded
Sesame seeds, toasted (for garnish)

Dressing Procedure:
Heat kiwifruit, soy sauce, ketchup, sugar, cayenne in a sauce pan. Add the anatto mixture and cornstarch mixture to the saucepan and simmer until thick. Take off from the heat and let it cool down. Add kiwifruit mixture to mayonnaise, mix thoroughly. Set aside.

Deep-fried  Seafood:
Dip shrimp pieces in egg then drop to bread crumbs. Deep fry for a few seconds, drain excess oil on kitchen towel, set aside.

Dry excess water on calamari rings. Add cornstarch, salt and pepper. Toss until well coated. Deep fry for a minute, drain excess oil on kitchen towel, set aside.

Assembling Procedure:

Add lettuce on serving bowl. Top with mixed calamari, shrimp and Zespiri Kiwifruit pieces. Drizzle with Kiwi Chili Mayo.

Serve immediately!

Happy Eating!!!

BETCHAdidn'tKNOW *Zespiri Kiwifruit also contains high levels of Actinidin, an enzyme that helps with protein digestion and aside from a steak garnish, kiwifruit can also be used as a natural meat tendrizer. :)

Taco is practically a mahoosive nachos with feast filling that is really up to you. I love it!

This is my version with Zespiri Kiwifruit flair. Perfect for that summer heat which is practically all year round where I am at :P

Ingredients:
1 cup leftover roasted chicken, sliced into strips
1 cup shredded lettuce
1 tomatoes, diced
1 Zespiri kiwifruit, diced
6 jalapeno slices, chopped
3 taco shells (heated as per box direction)
1/2 cup grated mozarella cheese

Directions:
Rain a little salt and pepper on chicken. Toss kiwifruit and tomatoes with 1 teaspoon lemon juice.

Arrange chicken at the bottom of each taco. Add shredded lettuce and few jalapeno pieces according to your taste.

Add cheddar then top it with combined kiwifruit and tomatoes.

Serve on a plate with a scoop of sour cream with a good dashing of cayenne pepper.

Happy Eating!

BeTcHa DiDn'T kNoW!
:) Zespiri Kiwifruit is an extremely rich source of Vitamin C. One Zespiri Kiwifruit a day can provide you with your daily dose of Vitamin C. It has two times the amount that oranges offer and five times nutrition than apples.
:) Zespiri Kiwifruit contains high level of Actinidin, an enzyme thathelps with protein digestion
:) Zespri Kiwifruit is not just for garnishing, it is also a very good meat tenderizer so next time you  prepare beef? think kiwi

I love burgers... who doesn't right?

I'll eat any priced burger, from MickeyD's to gourmet... I love 'em. I mean yes, MickeyD's tastes like a monotonous cardboard paper but i still eat them as if it's the yummiest food of all and it's the end of the world tomorrow.

Don't be fooled though. I actually have a pretty good palate but there is something so addictive (at least to me) about junk food. Not sure if it's the french fries that comes with every meal that makes me come back at least once a month (I'm trying to be modest here... gimme a break!). Or, it's my kids' once a month treat to a happy meal (again, this is me finding an excuse for MickeyD's trip).

As you know, I'm also a huge fan of Shake Shack and their witchcraft brews. Dining there is an indulgence I really must have every so often.

So you see, burgers is somewhat an addiction. I should probably come up with a group... I'm sure I'm not the only one.

I swear I've eaten burgers from different places, from the cheapest (talk about Burger Machine! that's to anyone who knows about it), to the random food chains that has response time like a 911 call to the really expensive ones and I mean expensive. I feel like, in addition to my quest to find the best joints for beef carpaccio...  the hunt for the juicy burgers in town is piggy-backing on my carpaccio journey. 

It's also just in the last five years that I began to understand that burgers or beef are best served medium rare (or if you can stomach it, rare!) The science behind the overheating of these precious jewels make muscles constrict, thereby makes them tougher. Oh boohoo! I won't bore you with the theoretical background of parts and cooking methods... let's go back to the essence of this whole musing, Burger at its best.

Well, fine, I'm sure I can still outdo myself... knowing my appetite for beating my own record. But for now, this recipe will give you a layer after layer of taste that is simply comforting without that big hoo-ha and sweat and not to mention the gajillions of ingredients that comfort mood normally requires.

So here it goes... get your pen and paper, boys and girls ... I can see you're not moving... yes... you can do that too... saving this page into your favourites for easy browsing.. of course that's a much better option,,, you tech-savvy-you!

 I have to warn you, the procedure is so complex that you're gonna need to be uber smart like me to make it... like seriously...

There are days when I get really lazy in the kitchen. Tonight is one of those days and boy I'm glad I was lazy... I wouldn't have gone creative otherwise.

Easy peasy recipe.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup sherry
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1/2 teaspoon ground or freshly cracked black pepper

Directions:
Smile! You just won an amazeballs recipe :P

Simple really... baking pan + aluminum foil (so you don't really have a war fight when you wash it) and the ingredients. Voila!

Cover with another foil to seal steam. Bake in the oven for one hour and a half hour, flipping them on the other side half way through the baking time.  

Grill press until it gets nicely charred. Baste using caramelised sauce in the pan. If there's no grill available, take off the foil covering and bake for another 10 minutes.

Serve with hot sauce and extra sauce on the side

So, I'm now a big fun of 2D Icing Tip and Roses! Since I'm a huge fan of whipping cream and strawberries too, why not combine them all for more fun?

One fine day, which is today, hubby is at work and my kids are at their cousins for another day or so and I'm seriously in need of something productive to do other than watching Olympics 2012 segment and reporting it impulsively on Twitter. I thought of being creative.
 
My cousin-in law asked me for a Strawberry Whipped Cream Frosting and I thought why not? So I made this super duper easy whipped cream to test.

Tip 1: I ate this with vanilla ice cream and it was amazing. You can use this to frost cupcakes or cakes.
Tip 2: you can use more pureed strawberries but know that the more puree you use, the less stable your cream will be.
Tip 3: you can use gelatin as a stabilizing agent if you wish too but taste will definitely vary

Ingredients:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup icing sugar
3 - 4 tablespoons freshly pureed strawberries (look at slideshow on how to puree)
a tiny tinge of red food colouring (optional),

Procedure:
Whip heavy whipping cream until it resembles those ready-to-spray whipped cream.  

Add sugar and whip some more. Add pureed strawberries and food colouring. Finish whipping to the consistency you like.

Be careful not to overwhip it at this stage because it will start to split and gone will be your pretty cream.

*I used the cream straight away and notice it to be warm and so couldn't create the rose shape, which means it will not hold any shape.

*I chilled it for half an hour and pipe out a rose and it came out beautifully. Of course, it being a whipped cream without stabilizer, it means, it will not hold its shape as long as a normal icing or buttercream would.

*If you don't mind serving chilled cake then frost your cake and chill them in the fridge until serving time.

I have always been curious about tender stem broccoli. Always imagined how crispy and tasty it would be to cook it but at the same time have no clue how to go about it.

Of all the years (which is pretty short :) ) that I've been cooking, variations of stir fry has always been my go-to when I have no clue how to handle veggies.

So I thought, oyster sauce, garlic, hot wok... what could go wrong? Seems like nothing! :) It was delicious!

Yes it's not cheap. Definitely double than a full blown broccoli but it's worth it. Perfect side dish for most main.

Ingredients:
knob of butter
1 teaspoon olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 packs of tender broccoli
1/2 cup oyster sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
sauteed button mushrooms (optional)

Procedure:

Cut off ends of tender stems and using a peeler, shave off tough parts of broccoli'

Chop florets and stems. Setting aside florets for the time being.

Heat olive oil for a few seconds and then add butter to melt.

Add garlic bits and fry until it's aromatic but not burnt.

Add chopped stems and stir fry for 3 minutes or just until it's almost half cooked. Add the florets and stir fry for another 3 minutes. Add oyster sauce and stir fry for another minutes.

Turn off the heat and add sesame oil. Leave broccoli on the pan to cook more in residual heat. Add sauteed mushrooms if you want.

I have been baking for awhile but just the thought of baking pie intimidated me more than fondant! Fondant is a decorative cover on a concoction. It is time consuming, it is intricate at times but it's not the main attraction.

Pie on the other hand is a different story. If you make a mistake with the crust you can't just take it off from the filling and start all over again. It's a two part fairy tale story, the crust and filling have to be fantastic to be considered a yummilicious pie.

Baking pie is like a validation of the kitchen goddess in me, at least that's how I felt... it doesn't necessarily mean it's true :P

And so one day, out of the blue, I summoned the gods of courage and begged them to show me some as I was finally ending the virgin pie baker in me. It must have worked as I and everyone else love my first pie sooooo very much!

But the perfectionist in me won't stop and so I tweaked the filling to perfection. It's the best apple pie I've ever eaten and it'll now be on my list of comfort food until I'm wrinkly and grey.

Unfortunately I cannot share the pastry recipe I used but promised to find an equally amazeballs recipe soon. The crust recipe was given to me by my friend and was sworn to secrecy... and so secret it shall remain.

Tip 1: Once your filling is cooked, you can keep it in the fridge for a day or two
Tip 2:

Ingredients:
1 pastry recipe for a 9-inch double crust pie
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 golden apples or granny smith, peeled, cored and sliced

Sprinkles
3 tablespoons milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder

Procedures:

Preheat oven to 425F.

Melt butter in saucepan, stir in flour and add water as soon as it becomes a paste. Add white and brown sugar, stir. Add sliced apples and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and let it simmer until sauce thickens and apples are half cooked.

Roll your chilled pastry and position it covering your pan. Fill it with apples and pour the sauce all over it, try and leave an inch from the top so that it doesn't spill over when it bubbles. Reserve the rest of sause for later use, ice cream topper, brushing lattice,,, I even used it on an experiment pineapple tartlets.

Going back to the pie.

Cover your pie with the other chilled rolled pastry or weave a lattice.

Chill the whole pie for 15 minutes.

Brush lattice with the reserved sauce. Brush the edges of the pie with milk. Sprinkle a mixture of sugar and cinnamon powder all over the top.

Bake 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees. Continue baking for 30 - 45 minutes. It's done when you poke the apple and it starts to give in. You want to have a little bit bite but not mashed.

The hardest part is resting your pie until the sauce regains its thick sauce. It's a torture smelling a sweet scent of cinnamon, sugar and apple all over the house but cannot eat until a few hours!

Don't put it in the fridge coz though it's nice piping hot from a microwave re-heated pie, the crust might lose it's flaky persona :P 

I made a simple video to show you how I weaved pastry to make a lattice cover for my pie. This is only the second time I made an apple pie and lattice so believe me when I say,,, it's super easy!

This is not really a new recipe but a variety of my pancake heaven recipe.

Perfect for snacks or kid's (and adult's) lunch box.

Ingredients:
Pancake Heaven Recipe
Nutella
Hotdog slices

Procedure:
Mix pancake as per the recipe

Chocolate sandwich
Fill in half of the waffle crevices. Lift off cooked waffles. Generously spread nutella and place other half on top. Secure with toothpick.

Hotdog waffles
Place hotdog slice on crevice. Fill remaining space with pancake mixture. Lift carefully and voila, you have waffles with hotdog peeking out.

Enjoy!

This is my brother's nanny's dish which our nanny most prolly modified to our tastebuds. Soooo delish, especially with steamed white rice.

My kids and their nanny went to my brother's house and so it's just me and hubby and in as much as I love hubby so much, I couldn't cook as flamboyant as I want to since today is one of those days that I'm down with a really bad flu. Mind you, I rarely have flu. Twice a year is my quota, knock on wood.

I'm so happy with how I managed to cook this dish that though can't taste much, I eat a lot!

This dish is so simple, it's a matter of cooking the beef tender and having the sauce balance.

Ingredients:
500 grams beef rib-eye
tenderiser powder
1 tablespoon lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
knob of butter
1 medium size green capsicum / bell pepper, cut in strips
1 medium white onion, sliced
1/2 cup oyster sauce
3/4 cup to 1 cup water
Mushroom slices, optional

Directions:

Massage the beef with tenderiser powder, cover with cling film and pound slightly. Slice into strips and squeeze about a tablespoon of lemon juice. Toss to make sure that all the pieces are well marinated. Set it aside for 15 minutes. This process will help tenderize your beef completely.

Heat olive oil with a tablespoon of butter in a frying pan over high heat. Add onions. Once onions are soft, add beef strips. Stir after 30 seconds and let it simmer for 2 minutes.

Set the meat aside in a serving bowl along with onions and bell pepper. Simmer the sauce in the pan for another 3 minutes.

Pour the sauce on meat and serve. Enjoy!