No-Frills Recipes ... cooking, baking & excerpts on travel

These peanut butter muffins are a perfect match with Reese's peanut butter cup and I'm sure that almost everyone will love the combination of chocolate and peanut butter.   They are wonderful when served warm from the oven.  A great way to bring some cheer to start your day! Reese's Peanut Butter Muffins  ~   花生酱玛芬 Ingredients 125 gm plain flour 20 gm light brown sugar ( I used Panela sugar)  20 gm caster sugar 1 egg 1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp milk 1 tsp baking powder 1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used canola oil) 60 gm peanut butter, creamy or crunchy 1/2 tsp vanilla 70 gm mini Reese peanut butter cup, crushed Raw sugar to sprinkle (optional) Method In a bowl, whisk flour, brown sugar, caster sugar, salt and baking powder till well combined. In another bowl, whisk oil, peanut butter, egg, milk and vanilla till thoroughly incorporated. Slowly pour the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.   Fold in the crushed Reese peanut butter cups but do not overm

This is rustic home cooking with simple ingredients consisting of salted fish, brown rice, chicken and eggs.  Many would love to have a bowl of this fried rice while there may be others who are put off by the strong smell of Asian cooking and in this case, the salted fish.   But to my family members they always look forward to this simple yet delicious one-pot meal! Yummy ~  I served this with some tomato chutney on the side. Salted fish fried rice  ~   咸鱼炒饭 Ingredients 1 chicken breast, diced 50 gm salted fish, diced 3 cups cooked rice, preferably overnight rice (I used brown rice) 2 eggs spring onions 4 pips of garlic, chopped sesame oil salt and fish sauce to taste Method Season the chicken breast with some salt and pepper. Heat up a non-stick frying pan with some oil, break in the eggs, scramble and dish out. Fry the salted fish till fragrant, dish out. Fry the chopped garlic till fragrant, add in the chicken and stir-fry till cooked. Add in t

This is my first attempt at making flourless cookies.   These nutty cookies had a good combination of peanuts and walnuts flavour.  If you prefer a chewy cookie, do not bake too long and  do not place the cookies too near to each other as they tend to spread easily while baking. Gluten-free Peanut Butter Cookies ~  花生酱饼干 Ingredients  1 cup smooth peanut butter 120 gm caster sugar 1 large egg 50 gm lightly toasted walnuts, chopped 1/4 cup rolled oats 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda Method Mix peanut butter, caster sugar, bicarbonate of soda and egg till well combined. Stir in the chopped walnuts and oats. Roll a tablespoon of dough, flatten it slightly.  Arrange on a parchment lined baking tray, about 2 inches apart.  Repeat with the balance of dough. Bake in a preheated oven @ 180 deg.C for 10 - 12 mins. Remove from oven, cool them before transferring onto a wire rack to cool completely.  Store in an air-tight cookie jar. Yield :  24 cookies

After successfully making the   Kuih Talam   with much trial and error, I ventured into trying out making this Gula Melaka Kuih Talam.  What is gula melaka one may ask?  Simply put, it's just palm sugar made from coconut palm.  The slightly saltish top coconut layer pairs very well with the dark and intense flavour of the palm sugar from the bottom layer, and this kuih can be served for breakfast or snack on at any time of the day. Gula Melaka Kuih Talam ~  椰香打南糕   Ingredients (A) 150 gm gula melaka/palm sugar 350 ml water 2 pandan/screwpine leaves 60 gm rice flour 25 gm green pea flour 1.1/2 Tbsp tapioca flour 100 ml thick coconut milk 1/4 tsp lye/alkaline water (B)  Top coconut layer 1.1/2 Tbsp tapioca flour 30 gm rice flour 15 gm green pea flour 100 ml thick coconut milk 250 ml water 1/2 tsp salt Method for (A) Cook gula melaka, water and pandan leaves till gula melaka is dissolved, strain into a bowl and let cool. Mix the rice flour

This is a one-wok dish which is easy to make and yet tasty.  The meat that I use here is bak kwa or pork jerky and it does give an amazing flavour to the fried rice.  I drizzle some sesame oil at the end before dishing out as it easily burns and will lose its aroma. Bak Kwa Fried Rice  ~  干猪肉炒饭 Ingredients 3 cups overnight rice 100 gm french beans, diced 100 gm carrot, diced 2 eggs, scrambled 100 gm bak kwa/pork jerky, cut into small pieces salt and light soya sauce to taste sesame oil Method Heat up some oil in a wok, break in the eggs, add some salt, scramble and dish out. Stir-fry the bak kwa, add in the carrots followed by the french beans. Add in the rice and stir fry. Add salt and light soya sauce to taste, mix in the scrambled eggs. Drizzle in some sesame oil. Dish out and and serve.