Tag Archives: tomato

Pizza with Homemade Pizza Sauce

1, In a big bowl, add in flour, yeast, and a bit olive oil. Water in, stir and knead to make a dough. Cover it with a towel and let it rise.

2, Prepare 2 big rotten tomatoes. Cut a cross at the bottom. Put them in a bowl and add in hot water. Let them soak for 2 mins and it will be more easily to peel them.

3, Cut tomatoes into small dices.

4, Heat a pan, add in olive oil.

5, Fry chopped garlic and onion till aromatic.

6, Add tomato dices in, sprinkle salt, black pepper and mixed herbs. Stir fry a bit.

7, Also add in 1 tbs tomato sauce.

8, Turn to low heat and let it simmer till tomatoes are fully cooked.

9, Press the tomato with spatula gently.

10, Keep heating with low heat and let the sauce to reduce till thickened.

11, Preheat oven with 220 degree C.

12, Press the dough into a big flat disc. Brush it with sauce evenly. Sprinkle cheese all over it.

13, Dough into the oven for 10-13 mins.

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Chicken Drumsticks Stew

1, Heat a pan, add in 2 tsp oil.

2,When oil is hot, add in chicken drumstick. Mine chicken drumsticks are quite big, I used 3 of them, about 400g.

3, Fry chicken drumstick with low medium heat for a while till slightly golden brown.

4, Set chicken aside. Use the same pan, no need to wash it.

5, Add in chopped 1 onion, 4 cloves of garlic. Stir fry with low heat till onion turns translucent.

6, Add in chopped green chili. You can also choose bell pepper. I just like it to be a bit spicy. Stir fry till aromatic.

7, Add in 1 can of diced tomato, about 400g. Stir fry and simmer for 5 mins.

8, Add chicken into the pan. Pour in stock or water enough to cover all ingredients.

9, Add in 2 tsp sugar, a bit bay leaves. Bring to boil with high heat. Then reduce to low heat and simmer for 40 mins.

10, Off the lid and turn up the heat. Reduce the sauce a bit.

11, Season with salt.

The sauce goes with both rice and pasta.

Sweet & Sour Pork

This dish is based on fried pork (xiao su rou).

Ingredients:

lean pork 250g

starch 80g

eggs 2

salt 1/2 tsp

five spice powder  1/2 tsp

tomato sauce 4 tbsp

sugar 3 tbsp

vinegar 2 tbsp

water 2 tbsp

starch 1 tsp

 

  1. Cut pork into slices or strips. About 3-5 mm.
  2. In a bowl, add in starch (sweet potato starch would be the best choice, but I tried with corn starch and turned out not bad.) and beat in eggs. whisk till fully combined.
  3. Add in salt and spice powder. Stir well.
  4. Add pork slices into the batter. Stir to let them be fully covered with batter.
  5. Deep fry in oil till golden brown.
  6. To make them crispier, heat the oil and fry again. This step is optional.
  7. To make sauce: Heat a pan. Add in 1 tbsp oil. Then add in 4 tbsp tomato sauce. Stir fry to make tomato sauce fully mixed with oil. and color will be brighter. Add in 3 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp vinegar and 2 tbsp water. Simmer with low heat. Dissolve 1 tsp starch in a little water and add into the sauce.
  8. Add fried pork into the sauce. Quickly mix well.

https://flic.kr/p/2iKQfXz

 

 

My husband is a big fan of this dish.

 

Oven Roasted Vegetables

I roasted potato, cauliflower, carrot by oven before. I always wanted to try roasting different kinds of vegetables at one time. And I did it today.

  1. Preheat oven to  200 Degree C.
  2. Prepare vegetables. I chose potato, carrot, cauliflower, broccoli, onion, baby corn, mushroom and cherry tomatoes.
  3. Wash them and cut. For potato, carrot, cauliflower and broccoli, they may need longer time to be cooked. So they must be in smaller size. While onion, baby corn, mushroom and cherry tomatoes. They should be in larger size.
  4. Cover the baking try with aluminum foil. Place vegetables over it. Drizzle olive oil. Sprinkle salt and black pepper. I also spread some dried herbs. And add 2 cloves of garlic. Gently toss a bit.

Into the oven and bake for 10 mins.

Flip them over. and Lower heat to 180 Degree C. Bake for another 10-15 mins.

Very nice. You can have various kinds of vegetables at one time.

And I put them in my husband’s bento box. One thing I love about bento is that he can’t be picky about the food. If I prepare vegetable for him. He has to finish it.

Bento for Hubby (His First Day at Work)

My husband got a new job. YAY~!

And today is his first day to go to work. That also means we cannot have lunch together at home. Since I need to teach in the afternoon or evening, we cannot have dinner together either. He will have his lunch at canteen. So I decided to cook lunch and spare his part in a lunchbox. All he needs to do is to reheat it when he’s off work.

I cooked his favorite chicken teriyaki today. And with potato pancakes.

Chicken teriyaki is not that difficult. 3 main steps: 1. Sear the whole boneless chicken leg till tow sides turn golden brown. 2. Sauce part: 2 tsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp sweet cooking wine, 1 tsp dark soy sauce, 2 tsp honey. Add in enough water covers chicken. 3. Boil for 15-20 mins and reduce the sauce with high heat.

Cut the chicken into strips. And pour the sauce over it. Rice will absorb the flavor.

Potato pancake:

2 medium potato,  (Peeled and shredded into thin strips. Boil in hot water for 1 min and drain)

1 cup flour

1 egg

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 cup water

Mix them in a big bowl.

Scoop batter with a spoon and fry till golden and crispy.

I cut them into halves before placing them into the lunch box.

To let him have more veggies, I also add cucumber slices, cherry tomato and boiled baby corn.

My husband finished them all.

Meat Sauce Pasta Recipe

  1. Heat a pan with 1 tablespoon oil inside. Saute chopped 2 cloves of garlic and 1 small chopped onion till aromatic.
  2. Add in Minced beef. stir fry till beef is no more pinkish. Set beef aside.
  3. Because I didn’t have any tomato puree, so I used fresh tomato instead. I used medium tomatoes and 1 cup cherry tomatoes. Cut a cross at the bottom, soak them in hot water for a little while. Then peel them and dice them.
  4. Use the same pan. Add in a little extra oil. Put tomato dices in. Sprinkle in salt, pepper, mixed herbs, 2 tablespoon tomato sauce, 1 tablespoon sugar. Simmer a bit to let the tomatoes melt a little. Dissolve 1 tablespoon flour in 3-4 tablespoon water. Add into tomato. So the sauce will be creamy.
  5. Add beef into tomato. Stir to let them mix well. Season with a little more salt and pepper if you need to.
  6. Pour the sauce over cooked pasta. And ready to serve.

https://flic.kr/p/QoxupA

Tomato & Egg Soup

I’ve been having this soup since I was very little. There is a little difference between the soup in the southern and northern China. Usually, southerners like soup and they like the soup that cooked for hours. I know many northerners like my family don’t consume too much time cooking soup. So fast soup like this tomato & egg tofu is popular in north.

Ingredients:

tomatoes 2

egg 1

1 pack tofu (optional)

salt

water

chopped spring onion

sesame oil

  1. Cut a cross at the bottom of tomatoes. Soak them in hot water for a little while. Then it can be peeled easily. Chop tomatoes into small cubes.
  2. Cut tofu into small pieces. Tofu is not a must-have ingredient in this soup. You can skip this step if you don’t have.
  3. Beat 1 egg into a bowl.
  4. Heat a pan. Drizzle in a little oil. Add in tomato pieces. Turn to low heat. Stir fry tomatoes till it turns very softened and mashed.
  5. Pour in 1/2 1 cup water. Also add in tofu if you have. Simmer for 5-8 mins.
  6. Dissolve 2 tsp starch in 1 tbsp water, and add into the soup. Stir well.
  7. Stir soup with a spoon and pour in beaten egg at the same time. cook for another 1 min to get egg done.
  8. Season with salt.

Garnish with spring onion and drizzle in sesame oil before serving.

Very simple and super fast.

ABC Soup

My husband used to cook this soup for me.  That’s really shocking since he seldom cooks. He cooks for maybe 10 times at most and chooses to cook soup. Why? Because he just needs to put all the ingredients into a pot and let the cooker do the rest work. That’s why I cannot say he doesn’t cook at all.

According to him, this soup is full of vitamin A,  B and C, and that’s how it gets the name.

Main ingredients are chicken leg (you can even use pork instead), vegetables (tomato, potato, carrot and onion). The most complicated part is to handle vegetables. (When my husband cooked this soup last time, I cleaned and cut all the vegetable for him.) Cut vegetables into medium chunks.

Put chicken leg into a pot, add in enough water. Bring to boil with high heat first. Skim the soup and remove all the dirt to make sure soup is clear. Then add all vegetable pieces in. Tun to low heat and simmer for at least 45 mins.

Don’t forget to season with salt before serving.

https://flic.kr/p/24wE2e2

I cooked for my husband when he felt a bit sick and didn’t have appetite. He finished this whole bowl of soup. Ate up all the vegetables and chicken leg.

Simple Seafood Linguine

1. Prepare 3 medium tomatoes. Cut a cross at the bottom. Soak them in hot water for a little while, then they can be peeled easily.

2. Chop tomatoes into small cubes. Heat a sauce pan. Add in 1 tablespoon oil, fry 1 chopped onion till transparent. Add in tomato cubes 2 tablespoon tomato sauce, 1 tablespoon sugar to balance the sourness, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp mixed herbs and 1/4 cup water. Simmer a bit to let tomatoes into paste. And reduce the sauce. Set aside for later use.

3. Heat a pan. Add in 1 tablespoon oil. When heated, add in squid rings, clam meat and shrimps. Stir fry for 2 min, add in 1 tsp chopped garlic. Pour in 1 tablespoon cooking wine. Simmer for 1 min or 2.

4. Add tomato sauce in and blend evenly. Mix with cooked linguine.

5. Season with salt, pepper and mixed herbs.

https://flic.kr/p/2a8u7hW

Garnish with spring onion or parsley.

Curry Fish

Remember last time my husband said he wanted to have laksa? He actually also said he wanted curry fish too. And He even chose fish filet for me to cook curry fish. Which is really rare, since my husband used to only choose snacks, diary products, and drinks. And he chose me stingray fish fillet. Well, that’s a bit challenging for me, since I have never cooked curry fish before, not even curry stingray fish. But my husband was like over confident with me. “Just cook it in the way how you cook curry chicken lah.” It’s easy to say those words, especially from a man who never cooks.

Anyway, I gave it a try. But not same as the way I cooked curry chciken.

  1. Cut sting ray fish fillet into smaller chunks. Sting ray has soft bone, which makes cutting a lot easier.
  2. Sprinkle salt, pepper and turmeric powder over the fish on both sides. (Why do I have turmeric powder in my kitchen while I don’t use it that often. Well, I don’t know either. 🙂 )
  3. Heat a pan, add in 1 tbsp oil. Fry fish fillet with low-medium heat till both sides turn golden brown. Then set aside for later use.
  4. Chop 1 onion, 4 garlic cloves and a small pieces of ginger and red chili (according to how spicy you can accept). Chop them as fine as you can. When I lose my patience, I jut chop them coarsely.
  5. Heat the pan again. Add in another 1 tbsp oil. Put all the chopped ginger, garlic, chili and onion in. Saute till aromatic.
  6. Add in 2 tbsp curry powder. saute a bit.
  7. Pour into 1/2 1 cup water or stock. Bring to boil.
  8. Add in potato chunks (my husband specifically said he wanted potato in this curry fish) , chopped 2 medium tomatoes and 1 tbsp tomato sauce. Lid on and simmer with low heat for 15 mins.
  9. Add in chopped long beans and green chili. Simmer for another 5 mins.
  10. Add fried fish fillet in. Also  add in 200 ml coconut milk. Stir evenly and simmer for another 10 mins.
  11. Season with salt.

My husband is pretty satisfied with this curry fish dish.