Cooking Essentials

Welcome to Cooking Essentials!!!

Butter Cookies (Simple & Easy)

Ingredients:
125g butter
100g icing sugar
sifted1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla essence
Sift: 150g flour & 1/2 tsp baking powder

Method:
Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in egg yolk and essence. Stir in sifted dry ingredients to form soft dough. Put dough into a cookie press and press shapes out onto greased baking sheets.

Bake in preheated oven at 180 ºC for 12 to 15 minutes or until light and golden brown. Allow to cool on the tray for two minutes before lifting it carefully onto wire racks to cool completely.

Seafood Laksa - The Healthier Way

Serve: 4 ~ 6

Spice paste:
10 dried red chillies - softened first in water
1 tbsp. belachan / shrimp paste
1 cup peeled shallots
5 slices fresh lengkwas, peeled
1 tsp. turmeric powder
1 tsp. coriander powder
White pepper to taste

Ingredients:
1 tbsp. dried prawns
1 stalk lemon grass – white stems only, bruised
8-12 medium-sized prawns, peeled, leaving only the tails
8-12 mussels
4 fish cakes, sliced
2 red capsicums, cut
2 yellow capsicums, cut
4 cups unsweetened soya milk
1 tbsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar (best to omit)
1 stalk laksa leaves
1 tbsp. of peanut oil


Method:
1. Place ingredients for spice mixture into a food processor and chop finely.

2. Heat oil in a pot.

3. When hot, lightly saute spice mixture, together with lemon grass and dried prawns, till fragrant.

4. Add 3-4 cups of water & bring gravy to the boil.

5. Add the prawns, mussels and fish cake slices.

6. Cover & simmer.

7. After a few minutes, check to see that the mussels are all opened. Discard unopened shells.

8. Add the soya milk. Keep stirring till gravy comes to the boil to prevent curdling.

9. Season with salt and sugar (best to omit) or to taste.

10. Garnish with laksa leaves.


Dietitian’s Tip:
1) Besides wholemeal French bread, thick bee hoon OR rice noodles OR wholemeal spaghetti can also be considered as an alternative to provide additional varieties.

However, patients with diabetes should NOT consume more than 1 rice bowl of thick bee hoon OR rice noodles OR wholemeal spaghetti OR more than 3 slices of bread.

2) Alternative to unsweetened soya milk, low fat evaporated milk OR low fat / skim milk OR lactose-free low fat UHT milk can be used in cooking as well.