Lynn's Kitchen: Week 12, 2015

Mar 16 (Mon)

I'm definitely more a dessert person than a food person. If I have to choose between food and dessert, I defintely choose dessert. And that is why when I flipped through the recipe booklet that came with my new toy, the Philips Air Fryer, the coconut banana fritters immediately caught my eyes. I love pisang goreng sold in hawker centres in Singapore, but they're really greasy. Imagine if I can make an almost oil-free version!

I bought mini bananas for this, as they're sweeter and has a tighter texture, which I like. The batter has desiccated coconut in it so it smelled really good while the fryer was going. The recipe said 8 minutes, but it looked too pale so I fried it for another 5 minutes, and they finally looked golden. I poured melted chocolate on top and served with strawberries. Again, it's not the same as the real thing, but it's sweet, it's crispy, and it's almost completely oil free! Because it's so fast and easy to make, I think it can be an emergency snack when my sweet tooth takes over.

A while ago one of J's colleagues brought back some frozen Taiwanese Zhua Bing for us. It's a popular street food sold in night markets in Taiwan, something between a roti prata and a scallion pancake. The Chinese character "zhua" 抓 means to pick up or to pinch, and it refers to the pinching motion you need to carry out while frying these babies. Here's a website I found teaching you how to make it.

Anyway the ones I received were already made into the shape and frozen, so all I had to do was to fry them. Since I've never done it before, I don't think I pinched them enough, so they came out more or less still in one piece, instead of really shredded, like the way they are served up in Taiwan. It still tasted good though =o)

I made my favourite green curry recipe to go with the Zhua Bing. Instead of pouring the curry on rice, I used the pancakes to dip in the curry

This is one of my favorite Thai green curry recipes, and it's from a cookbook. I'll post the recipe after I come back from my trip.

Mar 17 (Tue)

Air-fryer testing continues. I tried the fried chicken wing recipe that came in the air-fryer recipe booklet. What came out was more like a very nicely roasted chicken wing, but definitely not fried. Considering the short cooking time and the fact that there's no need to heat up the oven, I am ok with this.

The next recipe was definitely a success. I made the Zucchini Parmesan Crisps a while ago in the oven, and although the surface was crispy when it first came out of the oven, it became soggy after a while. Cooked in the air fryer, the surface was a deeper golden color, and it stayed crispy for hours. This is definitely a keeper.

Mar 18 (Wed)

Fuel for my 7am jumping lesson today is a avocado smoothie

1/2 avocado, 1/2 naval orange, 2c baby spinach, 1/2c plain yogurt, 1 home made coconut strawberry popsicle. I'm starting to think that there is no wrong way to make a smoothie because no matter what you put in, it always comes out yummy =o)
Grilled Halloumi with Watermelon Mint Basil Oil

This is one of my favourite salads to eat. First of all, I love Halloumi cheese. If I have to become a vegetarian one day, I think I can live with substituting all grilled meat with Halloumi. Second of all, there's something very addicting about combining the sweetness of the watermelon and the briney taste of Halloumi. Last but certainly not the least, roasted cherry tomato with basil mint oil, yum!!

Chilled Thai Squash Soup with Yogurt and Cilantro

I wanted a cold soup to go with the salad and this was pretty nice. Flavor is mild, but not bland.

Mar 19 (Thur)

Chicken Cutlet with Romesco & Serrano Crackins

I found this recipe in my files and it turned out really nicely. I don't remember the last time I made this but I will definitely make this again soon. I used bacon instead of Serrano, so it's like bacon bits. The salad had very little dressing on it, but paired nicely with the chicken cutlet. The key to this dish is not to cook the chicken too much so it's still juicy. I stick a small knife into the breast when I think it's about done and watch the color of the juice that comes out. If it's pink it's not done. Try again in a few minutes, until the juice is clear.

Mar 20 (Fri)

I'm leaving for Japan at midnight so it's time to clean out the fridge of perishables, and what better way to do it than to make smoothie!