Lemon Herb Roasted Potatoes

With the number of potato dishes popping up here, you might think I am crazy about anything potatoes now yeah? But no I am not.  Back dated posts all these are and I am rushing to get them out of the drafts.

I like how potatoes fit well being the main dish (think Shepherd's Pie!), and also makes good alternative as sides to main dishes.

Gotta say that this is a super easy dish to do as no peeling of the potato skin is required! All you need to do is to scrub the potato skins clean, dap dry with kitchen towel, slice them three quarter way down like how you would do to hasselback potatoes, brush on the oil & herb mixture, and off to the oven they go!  Easy? They taste yummy too. Make these to impress your guests if you have them over to your place :) Made these for Mummy when she came to my place to accompany me when hubby was out on biz trip. Glad Mummy enjoyed it :)

Lemon Herb Roasted Potatoes
Recipe by Rasa Malaysia
Serve 3

Ingredients

1 pounds baby potatoes

Oil Mixture

1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons melted butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley leaves
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon honey
Scant 1/4 teaspoon salt
3 dashes ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350F. Cut slits on the potatoes, do not cut through. Mix all ingredients in the Oil Mixture together.

Place the potatoes in a roasting pan and brush with the Oil Mixture. Make sure to brush inside the slits of the potatoes. Save some for basting.

Roast the potato for 1 hour, basting the oil mixture at 30 minute interval using the remaining Oil Mixture. Serve immediately after roasting.

Duchess Potatoes

Yet another dish that was made long time back and have sat in my draft for a long long time.

I made this dish to host my sister and brother-in-law before my sister popped. And here I am posting this so late when my baby nephew is already a month plus old!

These dainty potato rosettes goes well with any grilled steaks and roast meats, and are definitely a good alternative to the usual mash potatoes.  A little effort needed before you can sink your teeth into them but I assure you, it is worth it ;)

Duchess Potatoes
Recipe by Marshall Cavendish Mini Cookbook (Potatoes series)
Serves 4

450g potatoes, peeled and thickly sliced
1 tbsp butter
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Salt, to taste
Ground white pepper, to taste

1. Cover and cook potatoes in a pot of simmering salt water for 10minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Drain well and discard water in pot.

2. To evaporate excess moisture in potatoes so that a more fluffy potato mixture can be obtained, return potatoes to dry pot and shake over low heat for 1-2 minutes. Shaking pot will prevent potatoes from sticking to the bottom of pot.
3. Rub potatoes through a fine sieve, or press through a ricer. Add butter while potatoes are warm. Beat with a wooden spoon until mixture is very smooth. Mix egg gradually into potato mixture. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Lightly oil a baking tray. Spoon potato mixture into a piping bag fitted with 1-cm star nozzle and pipe rosettes onto baking tray.

5. Bake in a preheated oven at 190deg C for 10-15min, or until golden. Dish out immediately and serve while still hot.

Salmon with Salted Soy Bean Paste

Hubby and I have been eating lots of salmon and cod fish recently. We buy a whole salmon fish which is much cheaper this way. Cod fish wise, we buy it in slices. Not a wise choice but let's just say at least I am picking up on eating more fish and it is way healthier than consuming seafood :P

Flipping through the stack of recipe books, I realised I have many salmon fish recipes to try my hands on. More to come!!!

For this salmon with salted soy bean paste, I paired it with plain porridge as the soy bean paste was salty and the plain porridge could take away part of the saltiness. A different taste of pairing soy bean paste with salmon, not too bad if you are not into cooked salmon because soy bean paste helps mask the cooked salmon smell.

Salmon with Salted Soy Bean Paste
Recipe adapted from the asian oven by Jo Marion Seow with slight adjustments made

*Original recipe uses Halibut fillet but I replaced it with salmon fish

4 Halibut fillets, about 150g each (I replaced it with 2 salmon fillets)
3 tbsp salted soy beans (tau cheo) (I used just 1.5 tbsp soy beans)
1 clove garlic , peeled and grated
1 thumb-size knob ginger, peeled and grated
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp cooking oil
1 spring onion (scallion), sliced

1. Preheat the oven to 200deg C.  Line a baking dish with non-stick baking paper.
2. Place halibut fillets in the baking dish in a single layer.

3.  Mash salted soy beans with the back of a spoon.  Mix garlic, ginger, mashed salted soy beans, sugar and oil.  Spread this mixture in an even layer on the halibut fillets.  Bake in the oven for 6-8 min.

4. To check if the fish is cooked, insert a fork into the thickest part of the fillet.  If the fish breaks up easily, it is done. Otherwise, bake for a further 1-2 min.
5. Once the fish is cooked, sprinkle spring onion on top and serve immediately.

Baked Chocolate Cheesecake 巧克力乳酪蛋糕

Last week a no-bake cheesecake was featured. This week, expect a baked one! Yeah I love making cheesecakes! Baked or no-bake ones, Im okay with both. Ask which one I enjoy eating more, you can wait long long for my answer haha! I love them all.

Other than having to clear the packs of creamcheese, I also have to take care of the chocolate bars stashed in a big compartment of my fridge, where I could definitely make good out of that space. 

These chocolates would have made me a real happy girl in the past, but not anymore now. I do not chomp on choco bars like I used to, when I still got that slim (or maybe skinny) bod. Chocolates are very much eaten with caution now. I can live without them now. And so, to get rid of those chocolates, I planned to incorporate them into my bakes. Prep yourself for more choco stuff :D

I tasted the slice of cheesecake right after I was done with the phototakings.  Smooth, creamy and easy on the palate. Not as dense as no-bake ones but still yummy enough for me! I will bake this again!

Shared some with the sis who is also a cheesecake lover and I brought some into office. It is always good to share the calories, no?? :P

Baked Chocolate Cheesecake
Recipe from Grace Kitchen Corner
Original recipe from Nigella Lawson (Nigella Feasts) 9 inches round pan
(I used 6-inch springform pan)

For the base: 
(I used 120g of digestive biscuits and 80g of Oreo cookies without cream)
200g digestive biscuits 
100g unsalted butter (I used 85g of butter and melted it for use)
1 tablespoon cocoa powder (I left this out)

For the filling: (I left out the top filling)
175g dark chocolate
500g Philadelphia cream cheese
120g caster sugar
1 tablespoon cornflour
3 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
150 ml sour cream
½ teaspoon cocoa & 1 teaspoon instant coffee dissolved in 1 tablespoon hot water

For the glaze:
2 tablespoon cream
55g dark chocolate, finely chopped
1 tablespoon golden syrup
1 tablespoon warm water


1. Make the base, process the biscuits to make rough crumbs and then add the butter and cocoa. Process again until it makes damp, clumping crumbs and then tips them into a 23cm springform tin. Press the biscuit crumbs into the bottom of the tin to make an even base and put into the freezer while you make the filing. 

2. Preheat the oven to 180’C. Put a kettle on to boil. Melt the chocolate either in a microwave or double boiler, and set aside to cool slightly. 

3. Beat the cream cheese to soften it and then add the sugar and cornflour, beating again to combine. Beat in the whole eggs and then the yolks, and the sour cream. Finally add the cocoa dissolved in hot water and the melted chocolate, and mix to a smooth batter. 

4. Take the springform tin out of the the freezer and line the outside of the tin with a good layer of clingfilm, and then another layer of strong foil over that. This will protect it from the water bath. Sit the springform tin in a roasting pan and pour in the cheesecake filing.

5. Fill the roasting pan with just-boiled water to come about halfway up the cake tin, and bake in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour. The top of the cheesecake should be set, but the underneath should still have a wobble to it. 

6. Peel away the foil and clingfilm wrapping and sit the cheesecake in its tin on a rack to cool. Put in the fridge once it’s no longer hot, and leave to set, covered with clingfilm, overnight. 

7. Let it lose its chill before unspringing the cheesecake to serve. 

To make the chocolate glaze, very gently melt the chopped chocolate and cream. When the chocolate has nearly melted, take off the heat and whisk it to a smooth sauce. Add the golden syrup and mix well. Add the warm water then mix till you got a smooth chocolate glaze. 

8. Pour it evenly on the center of the chocolate cheesecake. Chill in the fridge for few minutes until the glaze slightly set.
Use a hot knife to cut the cheesecake.

Honey Glazed Salmon 低卡路里蜜汁三文鱼

Looking back at the number of posts I have kept up to date, I realised I do not have much of fish dishes. Since this is gonna be a year that I would like pay extra attention to our health (not that I normally neglect our health hor!), more fish dishes will be appearing here. 

I am not one who loves eating fish. I am afraid of choking on the bones, which I did many times and got too scared from those incidents, so I might as well keep away from eating them. I know I cannot do this for long! starting to buy more fish from the wet markets now for our meals.

How do you like your salmon fish to be cooked? Eh... I actually prefer to eat raw salmon slices, but if to eat it cooked, I like it panfried or baked. 

Came across this really yummy and healthy salmon dish. I like that the ingredients are easily found in all, if not most households. Gather them and make this dish quick!

Hubby kept nodding his head in satisfaction with each scoop of the salmon meat into his mouth. I instantly knew this recipe is here to stay and a must-share!

Honey Glazed Salmon
Recipe adapted from Low Calorie Cooking

4 5 oz. salmon fillets
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 Tbsp honey
2 garlic cloves, chopped fine
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F

2. Place the salmon fillets, skin side down, on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. In a small dish, whisk together the oil, honey, and garlic and set aside. Sprinkle the salmon fillets evenly with the salt and black pepper.Using a basting brush, spread the honey mixture evenly over the salmon fillets. (I sprinkled some dried parsley flakes over the salmon fillets)

3. Bake the salmon for 20 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily with a fork. (I squeezed some lemon juice over the salmon pieces and serve immediately)