Valentines Day Dish My Sweetheart Orange Scented Rice

Most of us loves the nice and fragrant aroma filling up from our kitchen while cooking one of our usual staple food, "steamed rice". But other than the usual white rice that we consume daily there are still many different varieties of ways and recipes whereby you can turn this simple food into simple interesting and nutritious.

This year for our Valentines theme dish, I have made these "Orange Scented Rice" to pair with another "Stir-fried Chicken with Mandarin Orange" where fresh orange zest and juice are used in both dishes.

ORANGE SCENTED RICE

Preparation: 20 Minutes                                     Cooking Time: 10 - 15 Minutes

Ingredients: (serves 2)

1 Cup Uncooked Rice
4 Cloves
3 Green Cardamom Pods
2cm Long Cinnamon Stick
2 Cloves Garlic
2 Shallots, thinly sliced
1/2 Tablespoon Olive Oil
Rind of half Mandarin Orange, thinly shred
1 Teaspoon Chicken Stock Powder
100ml Fresh Mandarin Orange Juice
1 Cup Water

Garnish:
1.5 Tablespoon Golden Raisin
1.5 Tablespoon Almond Flakes, lightly toasted
1/2 Tablespoon Sliced Spring Onion, optional


The adding of spices such as "Cloves, Cinnamon and Cardamom" infused the rice dish with a special fragrant that blends well with the fresh orange juice and zest. And it makes this rice taste similar to those "Biryani" rice which cooks with similar spices.

Method:

1. Preheat the frying pan with oil and saute Onion, Garlic, Cloves, Cinnamon and Cardamon until the onion slices turned soft and slightly golden brown.
2. Toss in shredded Orange peel and saute it for another 10 seconds before adding in the rice and chicken stock powder, stir well until the rice is coated with oil.
3. Transfer the rice into rice cooker or thermal pot, add in orange juice and water then cook until the rice is done.
4. Open the cooker lid, stir in golden raisins, cover and let it stand for another 5 minutes.
5. To serve, remove the spices(Garlic, Cloves, Cinnamon and Cardamom) from the cooked rice then using a folk to fluff in almond flakes and spring onion till well mixed.
6. Spoon the rice mixture into "heart shape" sushi mould and shaped into "Onigiri(rice ball)".


This "Orange Scented Rice" has a sweet taste from the orange juice and golden raisin together with a nutty flavour complements from the Almonds. And this goes perfectly well with the "Stir-fried Chicken With Mandarin Orange"(recipe HERE) where you can makes good used of those left-over Mandarin Oranges from Chinese New Year.

I am also submitting this post to "Aspiring Bakers #4: Love In The Air! (Feb 2011)", hosted by Me(Cuisine Paradise) at this link HERE.

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Halloween Trick or Treat Broccoli And Spinach Soup Graveyard Fried Rice Plus Apple Banana And Dragon Fruit Smoothie

Halloween is just a week from now and we are so excited about this weekend Angry Bird Halloween Party at Sentosa. For the past two years I have shared some Halloween themed dishes and treats which you could read more here. Although what I did this year was rather simple as compared to last year, but after all we do enjoy the process on preparing the food and etc on a raining cozy evening.

This year, we are having Spooky Broccoli Soup which served together with Graveyard Fired Rice and Bloody Smoothie.

BROCCOLI AND SPINACH SOUP
(Using Cuisinart Hot And Cold Blender)

We do love western cream soup especially Cream of Pumpkin and Cream of Mushroom but I always put it off the menu lists because of the steps plus blending of the soup which I find it too troublesome as compared to our Asian boiled soup.  Till recently when I received an amazing gift from friend which is the new Cuisinart Hot and Cold Blender (read more here) it actually inspired me to cook western soup again.

This innovative blender actually cook and blend soup within a few steps. It is so easy to use and all you required is to add in the necessary ingredients, set the timer, press a few buttons and after which you would enjoy a bowl of delicious soup, porridge or dessert in a breeze.

(Serves: 4 | Preparation: 10 minutes |  Cooking: 25 - 30 minutes)

Ingredients:
300g Broccoli, cut into small florets
2 Potatoes (200g), peeled and cubes
50g Spinach Leaves, roughly chopped
1 Small Brown Onion, roughly chopped
2 Garlic Cloves, crushed
1 Knob (15g) Of Butter
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
750ml 7500ml Hot Chicken/Vegetable Stock
1/3 (90g) Cup Greek Yogurt / Light Sour Cream
Some Crusty Bread to Serve

Method:-
1. Place butter and olive oil (butter should be on the heating plate rather than on the blades) in Cuisinart Hot And Cold Blender. Set timer to 25 minutes and melt butter on LOW heat.

2. Add onion, garlic and cook until softened, press the STIR button (on the right side) to stir the mixture regularly to avoid burning.

3. Through the hole on the press-on lid,  add potato, broccoli and hot stock into the glass jug and bring it to boil using HIGH heat. (it takes about 2 - 3 minutes)

4. Change to SIMMER and cook the mixture until the last 2 minutes, add in spinach and continue to cook until end of the cycle.

5. Once everything is cooked, blend on LEVEL 1 until smooth.

6. Pour soup between serving bowls and serve with a dollar of Greek Yogurt or Sour Cream together with crusty bread.

This year our Halloween Spooky Soup is no longer using "pumpkin" but instead we go for something "green" which are Broccoli and Spinach.  Although I love broccoli soup but I have never tried adding spinach in it till this recipe as I wanted to obtain a darker green colour for the soup.

Surprisingly it taste good without that "leafy" taste from the spinach and together with my little boy we also decorated the soup with some Greek yogurt to resemble  spooky ghosts.

GRAVEYARD FRIED RICE
(Using Seahs Singapore Fried Rice Spices)

Since it was a rainy day that evening we decided to have some fried rice to go with the soup instead of the usually spaghetti. And the Seahs Singapore Fried Rice spices that I have comes in handy for this dish as it makes a good seasoning and flavour for the plain rice. And in order to create the Halloween spooky theme, we also decorate the fried rice with sausages, egg , cucumber, jelly worms and etc.

(Serves: 4  | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 5 minutes)

Ingredients:
1 Packet of Seahs Singapore Fried Rice Spices
800g Cooked Rice, around 2.5 rice cooker cup uncooked rice
1/2 Cup Frozen Mixed Vegetables
2 Garlic Cloves, crashed
2 Tablespoons Cooking Oil
Some Cooking Wine
Some chopped Spring Onion
12 Japanese Chicken Sausages
4 Eggs

Method:
1. Boiled or Grilled the sausages, set aside. Fry sunny side-up eggs individually and set aside too.

2. Add oil in preheat wok, saute garlic till fragrant before stirring in the mixed frozen vegetables and cook for 1 minute.

3. Add cooked rice and continue to stir-fry for 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally.

4. Gradually add in Seahs spices into the fried rice according to your taste (you might not need the whole packet), stir well, drizzle some cooking wine and continue to stir-fry for another 1/2 minutes.

5. Remove, garnish with prepared sausages, egg and etc shown above. Serve hot.

APPLE AND BANANA SMOOTHIE
(Using Cuisinart Hot and Cold Blender)

As for the beverage of the day, we decided to go for two colour tones smoothie whereby I blend the Apple, Banana and Milk for the white tone and Red Dragon Fruit puree for the purplish red tone. And we love the refreshing fruity combination.

(Serves: 4 | Preparation: 30 minutes freezing | Blending: 2 minutes)

Ingredients:
2 - 3 Frozen Banana, skin remove and cut into chunks
2 Green Apples, skin removed and cut into cubes
1 Cup (250ml) Fresh Milk
1/4 Cup Ice Cubes, optional
1/2 Red Colour Dragon Fruit(pitaya), skin removed cut into chunks

Method:-
1. Put frozen banana, apple, fresh milk and ice cubes (if using) into the blender jug.

2. Fix the lid on and blend on LEVEL 4 for about 1 minute or until smooth.

3. Fill 4 tall serving glass half full, add some dragon fruit puree (shown below) and continue to fill up the glasses with remaining smoothie.

4. Swirl the mixture and decorate with some Halloween treats and serve immediately.

5. To prepare the Dragon Fruit Puree: Blend half of the Dragon Fruit on LEVEL 4 for 30 seconds or until smooth. Pour into bowl and set aside while preparing the smoothie. 

Till then have a great Halloween Party and do share with us if you have any good ideas on preparing Halloween dishes and bakes too!

"SAVOUR THE GOOD LIFE"
Soup Making Competition

Photo credits to ToTT.

Lastly just to share a quick finding, while searching for more information and cooking tips on this new Cuisinart blender, I happened to read about this Soup Making Competition (here) which is organised by ToTT and  Cuisinart where you could stand a chance to travel to Hong Kong to compete for the grand prize . Sounds good right?

To participate:-
~  First form teams of TWOS;

~ Submit a RECIPE as well as a PHOTO of the soup dish together with both full names, mobile numbers, NRIC numbers, and addresses, via email to pr@tottstore.com by 31 October 2012.

~ Recipes should serve up to 5 portions and must incorporate the use of Cuisinart’s Hot And Cold Blender.

~ It should also take no longer than 45 minutes to prepare.

To find out more about this competition you could visit ToTT Facebook Page for details. Good Luck everyone!

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Italian Rice Croquettes aka Rice Balls aka Arancini – Back by Popular Demand… Aunt Angela and Uncle Bill D’Arduini!

I just flew back from New York, and boy, are my jokes tired (as you’ll hear). So is everything else, and there’s no rest for the weary as I pack for a quick trip to see the team at Allrecipes.com in Seattle. So, time is short, and I’m posting this incredibly delicious Italian rice croquette recipe, sans extra wordy article.

There isn’t much to add anyway; what you see is what you get. This great appetizer was filmed at a recent family dinner at my Aunt Angela and Uncle Billy D’Arduini’s, and if they sound familiar, they should! They’ve been featured on the blog numerous times; in such smash hit recipes as, Cabbage Rolls, Chicken D’Arduini, and Homemade Pasta.

You can definitely do this recipe completely vegetarian, by skipping the giblets, or switch those out for almost any other cooked meat. Sausage, prosciutto, or ham are just a few of the many options.

When it comes to the rice, we used a standard long rain, and went with a 2 parts water to 1 part rice ratio. You want fully hydrated and completely cooked grain. Al dente rice is not going to work here. Slightly overcooked is not a problem.

Anyway, Id like to thank Aunt Angela and Uncle Bill for sharing their recipe, and I hope you can give it a try soon. It would be a great addition to any party menu. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

*Sorry, I never found out how many this makes, but I’m guessing about 70-80

2 pounds cooked chicken giblets (gizzards and hearts)

2 cups rice cooked in 4 cups salted water

2 cups grated Parmesan cheese

2 tbsp parsley, optional

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

2 large eggs

1/2 cup marinara sauce

salt and pepper to taste

plain breadcrumbs, as needed

vegetable oil for frying

lemon wedges

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Coconut Milk Rice Pudding with Fresh Mango – I Don’t Like Rice Pudding But I Love This!

I’m not a big fan of rice pudding, but curiosity got the best of me, and I needed to find out how much better/different a version would be that used Arborio rice, and the same basic technique as a savory risotto. 

In addition to trying out a new cooking method, I also wanted to sneak in some coconut milk for a little tropical twist, and I’m happy to report great success on both fronts. The Arborio produced a wonderfully creamy texture, and unlike tradition long-grain rice pudding, the grains of rice maintained a certain textural integrity, instead of just disappearing into one big, starchy mass.

The coconut milk gave the pudding another layer of subtle sweetness, and also inspired the fresh mango garnish, which really elevated these bowls of comforting goodness. Of course the mango is optional, and you’re welcome to take your chances with raisins, preferably golden ones. If desired, those can be added at the same time as the sugar and salt.

Speaking of bowls, I generally don’t make dessert for three (except this one time, at band camp…), but I had some new porcelain ones I wanted to use, and didn’t bother to check the volume before ladling in the sweet porridge.

Despite my “odd” yield, you should get four nicely sized portions from the amounts below. And yes, if you can’t find coconut milk (which you can), simply use all milk. I hope you give this coconut milk rice pudding a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 portions:

1 tbsp butter

1/3 cup Arborio rice (Note: I haven’t tested this recipe using regular rice, so no idea if that will work here. My instincts tell me, not nearly as well)

1 cup coconut milk

2 3/4 to 3 cups milk, or as needed

1/4 cup white sugar

1/8 tsp vanilla

salt to taste

1 egg yolk, beaten with 2 tbsp milk

For the garnish:

1/4 cup finely diced mango

pinch of Chinese 5-Spice

View the complete recipe

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Rice Sandwich

Heres a kids meal idea with the help with a cookie cutter.

Im using luncheon meat (I only use Tulip Brand so no worries. hehe.) for the cut outs. But wait! Dont throw away the remaining. Thats wastage! You can use that too.

After cutting out the shapes, lightly pan fried it without oil. Return the cookie cutter back to the cooked luncheon meat. Now, scoop some rice in the cutter and top it with another cooked luncheon meat.

Press it down while holding the cookie cutter to make the rice stick together and firm. If your cookie cutter has the imprint part, use that.

Remove the cookie cuter and you will have your rice and luncheon meat sandwich!



For the remaining luncheon meat, I stuff only rice in the cookie cutter to be fitted in it. Yah, this doesnt look like a sandwich. If you prefer only to use the cut out luncheon meat, the unwanted part can be used for other dish like fried rice. So dont throw it away.

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Angel Hair Pasta And Fried Rice Using Lee Kum Kee XO Sauce Plus Giveaways

With more than 120 years of history and relentless efforts in quality and innovation, Lee Kum Lee (李锦记) has became a well-known household brand as well as in the kitchens of many best gourmet restaurants. Today you can also find Lee Kum Kee products in most Asian or Local supermarkets worldwide with their featured range of products.

Do you know, Lee Kum Lee has over 200 sauces and condiments available worldwide with the common one such as their Oyster Sauce, Soy Sauce and Convenience Sauce. Above are some of my favourite Convenience Sauce which I always keep stock in my pantry in order to whip up delicious and fast free homecook dishes.

Lee Kum Kee XO Sauce is an all purpose condiment made from finest ingredients such as dried scallop, dried shrimp, red chill pepper and spices. It can be a delicious appetizer by itself or use as an addition to dishes such as Chinese dim sum, noodles, porridge and etc. Furthermore XO Sauce is also ideal for cooking meats, vegetables, tofu, fried rice and even pasta.

Lee Kum Kee XO Sauce comes in either XO Sauce (Regular) or XO Sauce (Extra Hot) in both 80g or 200g to suit individual preference.

ANGEL HAIR PASTA WITH XO SAUCE AND CRISPY WHITEBAITS

A week ago, I received some complimentary Lee Kum Kee products because I could not make it for their "Fast, Fresh And Simple Contemporary Cooking with Lee Kum Kee" workshop which was held at Cookyn Inc.  To find out more about this event and some quick recipes using Lee Kum Kee, you could check Melissa (HERE) and ShiTing (HERE) posts.

And with a recipe booklet that comes together in the goodie bag, I decided to try the most simplest and foolproof  pasta dish for our lunch.

Recipe adapted and modify from Lee Kum Kee Contemporary Cooking Workshop

(Serves: 2 - 3 | Preparation: 5 minutes | Cooking: 5 minutes)

Ingredients:

• 250g Dried Angel Hair Pasta
• 2 Tablespoons Lee Kum Kee XO Sauce
• 3 Garlic Cloves, finely minced
• 1 Tablespoon Chopped Spring Onions,
• Some Chopped Coriander Leaves, optional
• Some Fried Whitebaits

Method:-
1. Follow the packaging instruction, blanch pasta in salted boiling water until al dente. Remove and drain well.

2. Preheat frying pan with 1 tablespoon of cooking oil, saute garlic till fragrant, stir in XO Sauce and cook for a few seconds.

3. Turn Off the heat, toss in cooked pasta, chopped coriander and toss well.

4. Divide the pasta into serving plates, top with extra XO sauce, spring onion and crispy whitebaits. Serve immediately. (if the taste is a bit bland to your liking, you can season it with some Lee Kum Kee First Draw Soy Sauce to enhance the flavour)

FRIED RICE WITH XO SAUCE

Other than the pasta dish, I also used the XO Sauce to prepare a simple fried rice together with some sweetcorn kernels, green peas and egg. Honestly I am not a fan for fried rice and I usually dont order fried rice when I eat out as I find it rather "over-price" for just rice and a few little shrimps or some diced char siew (BBQ pork).

This fried rice used similar ingredients as the "pasta dish" above and with the additions of the XO sauce it actually enhance the flavour of the rice and give it a full wrap up!

(Serves: 2   | Preparation: 5 minutes  |   Cooking: 10 minutes)

Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons Lee Kum Kee XO Sauce
• 2 Servings (from 1 cup uncook rice) of Cooked Brown Rice
• 2 Tablespoons Of Cooking Oil
• 1/4 Cup Sweetcorn Kernels
• 1/4 Cup Green Peas
• 3 Cloves Garlic, finely chopped
• 1 Egg, lightly beaten
• 1 Teaspoon Belacan Chilli, optional
• Some Fried Whitebaits

Method:-
1. Preheat oil in frying pan, saute garlic until fragrant. Add sweetcorn kernels and green peas, stir-fry for about 2 minutes.

2. Add cooked rice (room temperature or straight from the fridge), using the back of the spatula or wooden spoon flatten the rice clusters so that the grains are separated.

3. Add XO sauce and belacan chilli, keep stirring till the rice is evenly coated with the sauce.

4. Next slowly swirl in beaten egg mixture over the rice and use high heat to fry the rice until dry.

5. Season with some freshly ground black pepper and stir in handful of fried whitebaits. Give the mixture a quick toss, remove and serve with extra spoon of XO sauce for strong flavour.

LEE KUM KEE GOODIE BAGS TO BE WON

Thanks to Lee Kum Kee (李锦记), I am giving away a set of the above "Lee Kum Kee Goodie Bag" (consists of  1 bottle of First Draw Soy Sauce, Chiu Chow Chili Oil, Hoisin Sauce and  XO Sauce) to 3 lucky readers. Prizes will be delivered to you by Lee Kum Kee after the giveaway ended.

To win:

1. Like the the above Lee Kum Kee Goodie Bag photo on Cuisine Paradise Facebook Page, AND

2. Leave a comment on the facebook photo stating a creative dish that you would make using the Lee Kum Kee XO Sauce.

OR

~ DOUBLE UP your "winning" chance by uploading a photo of your homecook dish using any of the Lee Kum Kee products on Cuisine Paradise facebook wall.

Example:- Soy Sauce, Lemon Chicken Sauce, Black Bean sauce and etc.

Closing Date: 15 September 2012 (Saturday), 9.00pm.
*only for readers living in Singapore*

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Fried Rice in Egg Pocket 蛋包饭

This is one of those days that mummy becomes lazy and doesnt wish to do much cooking. It will always be simple one pot dinner. In this case, its fried rice.



The kids seldom complain about fried rice because I always use their favourite ingredients to cook it. I cooked todays fried rice with french beans, crab-stick, tofu fish-cake and dried scallops. I seasoned it with fish sauce, salt and a little chicken powder. And of course with lots of roasted garlic.



The fried rice is served in an egg pocket. It is very easy to do it. Just cook an beaten egg in an oiled frying pan (to prevent it from sticking and not to fry it). Spread it as much as you can but not too thinly. Remove the egg crepe when it is cooked. You dont have to flip it to the other side during cooking.



Fit the egg crepe in a small bowl, eg. rice bowl. Make sure the egg crepe touches the bottom of the bowl. It is better to have egg crepe hanging out of the bowl. You will find out why as you read on. Next, scoop some fried rice into the bowl (where the egg crepe is) to the rim. Now, fold the excess egg crepe over the rice. It may not necessary cover all the rice, just some part of it. Place a plate over the bowl and flip it over. Remove the bowl and viola!



You may wish to decorate or write using tomato sauce or any other sauce on it or simply slice it like me before serving.

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