Smoked Chicken with Raw Coleslaw

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Chicken SaladI’d love to try to smoke a whole chicken at home one day, but well I took an easy way today and bought this little browned bird from the shop.

Ingredients

Shredded smoked chicken
1/4 shredded green cabbage
1 carrot
1/4 red onion
handful of parsley
1 cup of green salads

1 teaspoon of tahini paste
1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon of dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste

To make the salad, I mixed shredded green cabbage, carrots, red onions and parsley, green salads with a tahini dressing. For the dressing, mix tahini paste, white wine vinegar and dijon mustard. Shred the smoked chicken and mix well with the coleslaw salad. The smoky flavour from the chicken and refreshing crunchy salad marries very well. You can definitely cook your own chicken either grilling or poaching for a healthier option. Leftovers? Put in your lunch box! It will be a great filling for sandwich or wraps next day. Enjoy it in moderation because a cured or smoked meat contains a high amount of sodium and fat.

Posted in: Dinner, Gluten Free, Lunch, My recipes, salads

Jat-Juk

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Pine nut porridge
You might not have heard of this soup before. So here I am writing about it.
Jat-juk is a Korean porridge made by boiling finely ground soaked rice and pine nuts in water. We have a variety of porridge as rice is a staple. This pine nut porridge is by far one of the best because it is creamy, rich, nutritious and easy digest. Pine nuts in this porridge add protein, magnesium, vitamin E and vitamin B2. My mum used to make me this when I was a baby since it is easy to swallow and plain flavour. When I was sick with flu or stomachache as well. Porridge is the best just like westerners have a chicken soup. It is great to add a sprinkle of good quality salt and toasted nuts on top as well.

Ingredients
1 cup soaked rice (preferably over night. if you decide to use brown rice, soak longer)
1/2 cup of soaked pine nuts
5-6 cups of water
salt to taste
toasted nuts for garnish

Wash the rice clean until the water is clear. Soak rice and pine nuts in a separate bowl. Grind soaked rice and nuts separately with a cup of water using a food processor or blender until you get a paste. Pour out the rice paste into the heavy pot and bring it to boil. You have to keep stirring for about 10 minutes or so making sure it doesn’t stick to the pot. Then pour the pine nut paste into the pot and simmer for another 20-30 minutes. It is done when you get a hot oatmeal consistency. Serve hot or cold with salt and toasted nuts on top. Enjoy x

Posted in: Breakfast, Dinner, Gluten Free, Lunch, My recipes, Vegetarian

Happy Valentine’s Day – Flourless Chocolate Cake

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Flourless chocolate

Today is just like any other Friday to me since I’m not a fan of Valentine’s day. I probably sound very unromantic here but I don’t understand people spend fortune to book in the restaurant or send expensive flowers on Valentine’s day. To me, it should be a relaxing time to spend with people you love – lovers, family and friends. I think making dinner at home is so much better than wrangling into a busy restaurant today. Have a cooking date and enjoy a delicious meal together! Since it is a day of love and romance, I made mini heart shaped flourless chocolate cakes. It is gluten-free yay 🙂 I used a Swiss dark chocolate and no extra sugar or butter, so it might taste quite bitter and plain. Adjust the recipe according to your taste.

Ingredients
100g dark chocolate
6 eggs
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of orange peel finely chopped

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pot of simmering water. Stir until it completely melts. Lightly beat 6 eggs in a separate bowl. Add chocolate mixture and other ingredients into egg mixture. Pour into the baking tin (I used 6-heart shaped muffin tin) and bake in the preheated oven (180) for 40-50 minutes until cooked. Cool it down completely and serve.

 

Posted in: Baking, Dessert, Gluten Free, My recipes, Snack

Stir-fried Fish with Black Bean Sauce

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Stir-fried fish
There is a few ways of cooking fish healthy; steaming, grilling, poaching, baking and stir-frying without oil. My favorite among them is stir-frying, cooking at a high heat for a very short time. I like that sizzling sound when I’m cooking. Quick and easy!

Tips for stir-frying

  • Cut up my protein and vegetables into similar size and arrange them on the side, ready to go.
  • Pre-heat the non-stick wok or deep skillet at medium to high.
  • Cook onion, garlic, ginger first. You can add oil at this point. I tend to use a bit of water or a drizzle of coconut oil for cooking.
  • Cook your protein to about 50% and take it out. Don’t crowd the pan!
  • Put it back in when vegetables are cooked so that the protein is not overcooked.
  • Cook harder vegetables first since they take longer to cook.
  • Keep moving them making sure they don’t stick to the pan and cook evenly.
  • Put any kinds of sauce towards the end.

I cut up fish fillet into a bite size same as vegetables (I used cabbage and eggplant today). Stir-fry fish and veggies as above. Then I added black bean sauce at the end to coat all ingredients. The sauce consists of black bean paste, a teaspoon of cooking wine, a teaspoon of soy sauce, a teaspoon of minced garlic, a teaspoon of brown sugar and a teaspoon of sesame oil. Mix all these ingredients in a small bowl and then add into the wok. When it’s done, top with sesame seeds and coriander leaves. Serve with rice. I find using water instead oil while stir-frying makes this cooking method healthy. You can always add a bit of sesame oil at the end to taste and for healthy fat. Enjoy x

Posted in: Dinner, Gluten Free, Lunch, My recipes

GF Plum Tea Cake

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Plum cake2I went down to the shops to prepare for Valentine’s dinner tomorrow and a dinner party on Saturday night. Menu and shopping list just kept on changing all this week since I am very indecisive >.< I got all ingredients now so no more changes! It’s plum season now. I just couldn’t walk pass these little juicy purplish plums at the market today although they were not on my shopping list. It was quite sour and tart to eat by itself so I decided to bake some plum cakes this morning. This gluten-free and sugar-free tea cake is a little dense and not sweet at all. So change the recipe for your taste, but I quite liked a chocolatey chewy bottom and soft and juicy plums on top. Morning snack sorted 🙂

Ingredients
buckwheat flour 75g
coconut flour 25g
cacao powder 25g
1 teaspoon of baking powder
2 heap table spoon of pomegranate molasses
3 eggs
2 plums

Lightly beat 3 eggs and add pomegranate molasses in a bowl. Add all dry ingredients and mix all up. Spread in the loaf tin and arrange slices of plums on top. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes until cooked.
Plum cake

 

Posted in: Baking, Dessert, Gluten Free, My recipes, Snack