Christmas Potluck Dishes

Festive seasons are always full of parties and gatherings. With Christmas just a few days around the corner I am sure most of you are busying with the festive feast preparation too. As usual every year our church cell group would organize Christmas potluck party a week before Christmas where each family would bring along some food/goodies to share with each other during the gathering.

This year with my NEW Tupperware Tapau set we could easily prepared and brings the food without being afraid that the gravy from the food might leak out half way through the journey or having trouble to pack food in multi sizes containers. Below are some of the food we prepared and packed for our last week Christmas potluck gathering using my Eco-friendly Tapau containers.

Using one of the 1-Litre size Crystalwave Dish to pack some homemade pizza , gingerbread man and tart as finger food.

For starter we packed some freshly prepared salad using red and green coral lettuce, rocket leaves, mixed dried fruits and etc with some Italian dressing in another similar Crystalwave Dish.

As for the big Crystalware bowl mum used it to pack some curry chicken to go with the freshly baked baguette which most of us love to use it for dipping the curry gravy (in order to prevent the bread from contact with the curry gravy you can place a layer of aluminum foil/baking baker on the holder before placing the bread).

Before reheating the curry chicken in the microwave, open the cover and remove the noodle holder with bread then secure the cover back on the Crystalwave bowl leaving only the vent cap open. Reheat the curry chicken for about 2  - 3 minutes high (depending on the microwave voltage) and serve warm with bread.

These collage photos shows the ingredients and steps on preparing the chicken curry.

Ingredients: (serves 4)

1 Medium Size Chicken, about 1 - 1.2kg
1 Packet Hai's Instant Curry Chicken Paste
3 Medium Potato
150ml Coconut Milk
600ml Hot Water
1 Medium Tomato, optional

Method:
1. Trim, clean and chop the chicken into bite-size chunks and set aside.
2. Peel the skin of the potato, cut into cubes.
3. Preheat a medium pot and sauté the Hai’s instant curry paste on medium low heat for about 1 minute or so till fragrant.
4. Stir in the chicken pieces and potato cubes, give it a quick stir till combined.
5. Slowly pour in hot water till the chicken mixture is almost covered with water.
6. Add in tomato wedges and when the mixture comes to boil again simmer it on medium how heat for about 15 minutes or till the chicken and potato are cooked through.
7. Lower the heat, slowly stir in the coconut milk and simmer for another 5 minutes till done.
8. Serve warm with white rice or baguette.

Note:
~ If you prefer thick and creamy curry gravy, you can use 250ml coconut milk/cream with 500ml hot water as stated from the instructions from the back of the packaging.


This is the new packing of Hai's Instant Curry Chicken Paste that I have used for this recipe.

If you have read through the 2 previous Tupperware posts (refer to links below) that I have shared I am sure you would agreed with me that this Tupperware set is indeed a great gift for Christmas season. You could use it not only as a TaPau container but as well as for packing homecook food or snacks too. I believed there are still many ways of using this wonder products which some of you are practicing so do share with us your valuable tips if you do own a set.

Related Tupperware Tapau Set Links
1. Go Green with Tupperware TaPau Set
2. Comfort Food At Ease


This Tupperware Tapau Set retails at S$49.00 which comes with  2 Crystalwave Dishes in 1-Litre capacity,  1 Crystalwave Bowl in 2-Litres capacity, 1 Noodle Holder and a Grip-n-Go Cariolier. And if you are interested to know more about this product do take look at their website here ”http://www.tupperware.com.sg/” or contact any one of the nearest Tupperware outlets shown below:

Note:-

This post is sponsored by Tupperware Singapore but the opinions expressed are 100% mine. No photos or text may be reproduced without seeking prior permission.

Stir-fried Chicken Fillet with Thai Basil Leaves

Not long ago, I have tried a similar version of this dish using minced pork which you could refer to the recipe HERE. And for this "Stir-fried Chicken Fillet with Thai Basil Leave" dish, I replaced the minced pork with chicken fillet strips which brings up another flavour and texture to this unique Thai street food. I am sure it would be a popular choice for those who prefer lean meat such as chicken breast meat which is low in fat content.

BK Steakhouse Burger

Recently BURGER KING has launched a new menu where patrons can enjoy a steakhouse dining experience at majority of their outlets island wide. With the new Loaded Steakhouse Burger and Steakhouse Burger, beef lovers would able to discover a new level of satisfaction in a premium steak dinner at lower cost.

A few days ago after passing some souvenir to friends in town, we decided to grab some quick lunch before heading off to some  Christmas Shopping in Orchard area. And since we are around Dhoby Ghuat area, my boy suggests that we could have BURGER KING at Plaza Singapura for lunch. So guess what we ordered!

Yes!!! After scanning through their menu and tossing between the two "NEW" launched Burgers, we finally settle for this "Steakhouse Burger" that comes with the following ingredients:-

New Steakhouse Burger

- 4” Corn-dusted premium bakery Bun
- Premium Angus Beef Patty (4 Oz), flame-grilled
- A.1. ® Thick and Hearty Steak Sauce
- Crispy Onions
- American Cheese (2 slices)
- Creamy Mayonnaise
- Crunchy Lettuce and Red Ripe Tomatoes (2 slices)

Price: S$5.95 for Ala Carte 
Price: S$7.95 meal set (comes with medium fries/onion rings and medium soft drink)


But if you are looking for something more filling and without vegetables topping such as lettuce and tomato, perhaps you can consider the "Loaded Steakhouse Burgers" that comes with similar ingredients compare to Steakhouse Burgers except they replace the veggie with extra Turkey Bacon and the creamy Mashed Potato Spread.

New Loaded Steakhouse Burger

- 4” Corn-dusted premium bakery Bun
- Premium Angus Beef Patty (4 Oz), flame-grilled
- A.1. ® Thick & Hearty Steak Sauce
- Crispy Onions
- American Cheese (2 slices)
- Turkey Bacon (4 ½ slices)
- Loaded with creamy Mashed Potato Spread

Price: S$6.95 for Ala Carte 
Price: S$8.95 meal set (comes with medium fries/onion rings and medium soft drink)


Other than the two choices above, you could also enhance your burger by adding extra ingredients shown below to build your own personal preference.

- Extra premium Angus beef patty (4 Oz)- $3.00
- Extra crispy onion - $0.50
- Extra A1 Thick and Hearty Steak Sauce - $0.50
- Loaded mashed potato Spread- $0.80

While taking my orders the friendly serving staff at the counter also recommend me to try this new "Funnel Cake Sticks" which cost  much cheaper as an add-on for any value meal purchased. Each box comes with 9 bite-size dough sticks that are fried to crispy golden brown then dusted with icing sugar. To be honest these dough sticks are indeed very addicting while having it warm and it taste similar to those sugar donut texture. I would suggest  you could  order a cup of  the premium coffee to go with these for afternoon tea snack.
Price: S$1.95 per box (as an add-on item) or;
Price: S$2.95 per box (as A la carte)

Note:

Steakhouse Burgers and Funnel Cake Sticks are available for limited time only from 02 December 2010 – 12 January 2010 at all outlets except Escape Theme Park and Singapore Polytechnic.

In fact, BK takes this irreverence to the next level by collaborating with Sheikh Haikel (Rapper, Artiste, DJ, Host, BK Fan), who is the perfect embodiment of BK’s idea of fine dining. Sheikh has specially remixed his latest hit “Still Steady” (from his latest rap album 10.10.10) for BK, entitled “BK Still Steady”, to promote the Steakhouse Burgers too. For more details you could refer to the official facebook page "www.facebook.com/BurgerKingSingapore".

Note: This is not a sponsored post.

[Guest Post] Baked Zucchini and Mix Vegetables

Hi everyone I am back from Holiday!!!!! This year was indeed a fruitful year for us; in April we went to Taiwan(read more here), June we went for a short getaway to Carmon Highland(read more here) and in early December we indulge ourselves at the freezing winter in Seoul, Korea.

After the fun filled and tiring holidays, now we are back to the upcoming Christmas posts again. If you have being following the blogposts over here, you would have read about the Guest Post by Lobsterpaints on “Roasted Salmon with Dill”. Below is another guest post by her on Baked Zucchini and Mix Vegetables.

But before we head over to her blog and read more about this post, let's take a look at the ingredients for this dish which you might want to try it out during this coming festive season.

Ingredients:

(makes an approx. 25cm length x 23cm width x 2.5cm depth tray size.)

1 Zucchini (aprrox. 300g)
8-10 mini potatoes (approx. 750g)
10-15 baby carrots (approx. 125g)
5-7 Shitake mushrooms (approx. 125g)
1 tbsp chopped garlic
2 tbsp oil
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp black peppercorn
1 tbsp salt
3 tbsp rosemary and oregano mix (or to taste)


For more details, click here for the full post @ http://lobsterpaints.blogspot.com/2010/12/recipe-baked-zucchini-with-mix.html

Comfort Food At Ease

Isn't this look great for a modern  Tingkat set? We love these bright "Yellow" Tupperware which comes in handy for all occasions. Whenever I took out this set from the kitchen pantry my boy would be jumping in joy because he knew that we are going for a "Tapau" trip again. Guess what we have bought in it and where we are heading for our lunch?

My boy loves to go picnic at the beach but sometime if beach is not accessible during gloomy weather or etc we would choose to go somewhere near our area together with some packed food. With a different eating environment at outdoors it actually helps to increase the appetite of kids as well. And moreover they would be delighted to have some outdoor activities before the meal too.

  Since my mum was around with us during last weekend, my boy suggested that we shall have lunch at one of the nearby playgroup so that he could play the swing before lunch.

With this multi-function Eco Tapau set Tupperware it actually makes our usual picnic more convenient because I could get different combination of food without afraid that the soup or dessert would leak out. The airtight cover and “Grip-n-Go” Cariolier actually helps to secure the containers firmly too.

Out of the 3 containers, I am in love with this Big Crystalwave Bowl (2 Litres) which is great for packing food soupy food. This container comes in 3 different portions such as the airtight cover with vent cap, big soup bowl and a noodle holder. In this way the noodles and ingredients placed on the noodle holder which is separate from the soup in order to retain its’ freshness and texture of the noodles. And with this container mum can enjoy her "Kuah Tiao Soup" which still taste warm and fresh even after 30 minutes of tapau time.


With this set of Tapau containers we could always enjoy fresh and warm food even during our picnic day. I am sure some of you might have seen the advertisement on these containers which could be useful in a way in long run. And if you are interested to know more about it, you can take look at their website at: ”http://www.tupperware.com.sg/”. Or contact your nearest Tupperware outlets shown below:-

Note:-

This post is sponsored by Tupperware Singapore but the opinions expressed are 100% mine. No photos or text may be reproduced without seeking prior permission.

Oven Baked Fried Chicken Bento

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Do you like fried chicken? I am sure most of you would rise up your hands and say yes. Recent years there so many fast food outlets such as "KFC", "Wendy", "Popeye Chicken" and etc selling fried chicken. And there are also frozen Fried Chicken that is available in the local supermarkets too. In this post, I would like to share with you some tips and ideas on how I made use of some CP Fried Chicken (Original Flavour) to prepare this cute little "Chicky Bento".

Fried Chicken is one of my boy's favourite deep-fried finger food that I would always prepared from scratch using chicken wings, seasoning, flour batter and etc. But with this CP Fried Chicken that can be easily grab from any supermarket it actually shorten my time on preparing these deep-fried stuffs for the family.

  The CP Fried Chicken (Original Flavour) are coated in a specially light and crispy batter that stays crispy on the outer skin even after 30 minutes or more. I choose the oven baked method to prepare these chicken as I find it more healthier than deep-fried with oil. To assemble the bento, here are the ingredients and steps:-

Ingredients:

1 Bowl of Cooked Rice
2 - 3 Pieces of CP Fried Chicken
1/4 Japanese Cucumber, cut into long sticks
1/4 Carrot, peeled outer skin cut into long sticks
Some Lettuce Leaves, optional
Some Fresh Fruit of Your Choice

Method:

1. Place the fried chicken in the oven toaster and toast it for about 15 – 20 minutes, turn occasionally to prevent it from getting burnt.
2. While waiting for the chicken to be done, cut the Japanese cucumber and carrot into long veggie sticks as side for the bento.
3. Assemble the bento accordingly; you can place the fried chicken (if too big pieces for the kid, you could cut it into bite size) together with the veggie sticks in a container.
4. Drizzle some roasted black sesame seeds on the rice if you preferred.
5. Serve the bento set with cut fruits immediately or packed it for your outing.


Do you want to have a piece of these "Mickey" face cutout dragon fruit for after meal dessert? I am sure most of the Disney fan kids would love this special treat which would change their mindset on eating fruits.To make this cute cutout from the dragon fruit you would need to have the mickey ring cutter shown HERE.(1st photo of the post)

Don't worry if you don't possess any of these bento items, you could always start off by using some simple tools that are available at Daiso (S$2 shop) or even some online bento site such as New Stylish Tokyo (http://www.nst.my/), Bento Craft (http://bentocraft.com/) and etc.

CP Food's Latest "Chicky" Products

Recently I have shared post on how to use some CP Thai Shrimp Cake to prepare 4 quick and easy finger food and one dish meal recipes. If you are interested to read more about this releated post, you can the link HERE. As for this post I would once again loves to share with you some simple ways of preparing different type of CP Chicken Products in less than 30 minutes.

These are the colleage photos of the ingredients and steps to prepare the "Claypot Chicken Rice".

Ingredients: (Serves 2)

6 - 8 Pieces of CP Charcoal-Grilled Chicken
160g (1 Rice Cooker Cup) Uncook Rice
320ml Water
Some Baby Bok Choy
1 Egg, optional
1 Teaspoon Sesame Oil
Dried Shallot and Chopped Spring Onion for Garnishing

Method:

1.Rinse the uncooked rice with tap water for a few rounds, drained well and add in suitable amount of water to cook the rice.
2. Place the claypot with rice over the stove, bring it to boil and low the heat to simmer the mixture till the water is half way dried off.
3. Next place the frozen CP Charcoal-Grilled Chicken starts from the middle and some baby bok choy along  the side.
4. Use can use two leaves from the bok choy to act as a base to support the egg before cracking it onto the rice.
5. Drizzle 1 teaspoon of sesame oil over the top of the vegetable and egg then cover and let it continue to simmer on very low heat for about 5 - 7 minutes till the chicken is heat through and egg is half way cooked.
6. Serve warm with dried shallot, chopped spring onion and drizzle of dark soy sauce according to your preference.

Note:-

~ You can also cook this dish using rice cooker. Just cook the rice as per usual then place the ingredient on top of the half-way cooked through mixture and let it cook and keep warm the the chicken is warm through.

This soft and tender CP Charcoal-Grilled Chicken is marinated in a distinctive Japanese-style sauce and slowly grilled over real charcoal fire. These pieces of charcoal grilled chicken is made using quality chicken leg meat that contins 0 Trans Fat and most important fact it contain no preservatives which most parents like us concern of.

This is one of our quick and easy one-dish meal for lunch busy busy weekends where my kid needs to rush for enrichment classes or when I am too lazy to cook 2 - 3 courses meal. So with a pack of these delicious and charcoal-grilled chicken you can either use it for making claypot rice like me or, microwave it till done and served with blanched noodles will be a great deal too.

This small bite-size CP Chicken Cake makes a great finger food for parties or gatherings which is easier for the guest to pick up and go. The ingredients of these chicken cakes consists of minced chicken meat and corn bits as well as some stands of vermicelli for extra crunch. You can either deep-fried, oven toast or microwave it but for me I prefer pan-fried which used lesser oil but it would give it a nice golden coating.

To have something refreshing to go with the Chicken Cake I came out with some "Century Egg Salad" which goes pretty well with it.

Ingredients: (Serves 2)
1 Century Egg, cut into small cubes
2 Small Shallot, thinly sliced
1 Small Red Chilli, roughly chopped
1 Medium Tomato, cut into small cubes
1/4 Japanese Cucumber, cut into small cubes
1/2 Tablespoon Frozen/Fresh Corn Kernels, optional
1 Teaspoon of Oil

Method:

1. Preheat a small saucepan with 1 teaspoon of oil and sauté the sliced shallot and chopped chilli till fragrant.
2. Toss in all the rest of the ingredients and give it a quick stir to heat them through.
3. Remove from heat and serve warm together with the Chicken Cakes.


Do you like fried chicken? I am sure most of you would rise up your hands and say yes. There are so many fried chicken fast food outlets around such as "KFC", "Wendy", "Popeye Chicken" and etc. But what about those frozen Fried Chicken that available in the local supermarkets, have you ever tried them before? Here, I have use the CP Fried Chicken (Original Flavour) to prepare this cute little "Chicky Bento" which I personally think that these fried chicken pieces taste just as good as those selling in the fast food outlets. For more details about this Chicky Bento, do check back for the upcoming recipe soon.

Fat Boy's The Burger Bar

FATBOY'S - The Burger Bar is a burger place in town that serves appetizers, sandwiches, burgers, milkshakes, floats, beers and etc. It has two branches which one located at Upper Thomson and the other at Mohamed Sultan. The outlet at Thomson normally opens from late afternoon till midnight during weekdays and noon onwards on Friday till Sunday. With its visible location along Upper Thomson Road this outlet do draws quite a number of crowds during evening time where patrons gets to enjoy the meal and some chill out with their wide range of beverages.

The concept of the outlet is design with black and white layout that pairs with high bar tables and chairs on right side and picnic benches on the left.

  And like most of the burger restaurants in Singapore, you can always find a "Giant" menu near the entrance showcasing some of their speciality items. 

  The soup of the day was "Cream of Carrot" during our visit. After about  5- 8 minutes of waiting time, the soup is served in a quite decent size of portion for one for its' price. But the taste of it was kind of dilute and we think this can be better compared to the current quality.
Price: S$5.00 per bowl

From the menu we ordered two different types of burger which is the B.O.D (Burger of the Day) that happens to be "Bolly Wooly".  This burger is made up with juicy lamb patty that served with lots of  lettuce and tomato together with smooth layer of homemade curry remoulade and topped with mango chutney.
Price: S$11.50 per plate

All these yummy fillings are sandwiched together with homemade Honey Oat Bun and some thick slabs of French Fries. The lamb patty taste pretty good with its' right texture and seasoning and it goes well with the curry remoulade too.

Next we have "Salmon Says" where the grilled salamon patty was topped with guacamole (avocado-based dip) and cheddar cheese on whole wheat bun.
Price: S$12.00 per plate

As usual each set of burger serves with extra lettuce and thick slabs of fries as sides. Compared to the lamb patty, the salmon patty was kind of sad to be say as on the downside as we felt that the guacamole was rather a bit sour and it does not blend well with the salmon patty.


So next round when your drop by along Upper Thomson Road, instead of having Chicken Rice or Char Kway Tiao at the Longhouse Coffee Shop perhaps you can consider this for a chance. I am sure the huge portion will be able to fill your hungry appetite.

FATBOY's The Burger Bar

187 Upper Thomson Road
Singapore 574335
Telephone: +65 6252 8787
Website: http://www.fatboys.sg/

Opening Hours:

Monday - Thursday: 4.00pm - 12.00am
Friday, Satursday, Sunday and Public Holiday: 12.00pm - 12.00am

Gingerbread Men

If you love food and cooking as much as I do, then I bet you enjoy Christmas time, too. What could be better than spending time with loved ones over delicious meals and bakes. This year I have invited a few blogger friends to guest post some lovely Christmas dishes together with what I prepared in order to bring up some excitement atmosphere for coming Christmas season.

How could Christmas do without these lovely Gingerbread Men. I am sure most of us are familiar with the popular nursery rhyme where the story mentioned about an old couple whom baked a "Gingerbread Man" that became alive. So whenever during Christmas season while we are baking these lovely cookies, my boy would always asked me whether those "gingerbread men" that he made would be jumping out of the oven?

These are some collage photos of the ingredients and steps on making these lovely bakes.

Ingredients (makes 8)

60g Butter, soften
65g (1/3 Cup) Brown Sugar
30ml Maple Syrup
1/2 Egg, lightly beaten
155g (1 1/4 Cups) Plain Flour
1/4 Teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda
1/2 Tablespoon Mixed Spices

For Icing:
150g (1 Cup) White Chocolate Melts
Silver Cachous, to decorate
Christmas Sprinkes, to decorate
Food Colouring, optional

Note:-

~ You can omit adding of mixed spices to this recipe if you/your kids do not like the aroma/taste of it.

~ Replacement of Maple Syrup with Honey can be done in this recipe too.

These lovely bakes are pretty easy to be made except you would need to put the soft dough into the refrigerate for at least an hour or until firm to cut. And remember you have to work fast on the dough during hot/humid weather as it tends to be soften easily and the cutout shapes would be effected. (If dough starts to get sticky, put back to the fridge for another 5 - 8 minutes before continue with it for easier cutout of shapes)

Method:

1. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add maple syrup and egg then continue to beat till combined.
2. Sift flour, bicarbonate of soda and mixed spices over butter mixture. Using a wooden spoon, stir until just combined to form a soft dough.
3. Place dough on a lightly floured surface, knead gentle until smooth.
4. Flatten it slightly between two sheet of baking paper and keep it in the fridge for about 1 hour or till firm.
5. Preheat oven to 170 degree and line baking tray(s) with baking paper, roll dough between 2 sheets of baking paper until 0.5cm thick.
6. Using a 6.5cm wide and 7.5cm long (or any medium size) gingerbread man cutter, cut shapes from dough.
7. Re-roll dough scraps and continue to cut shapes till dough is used up. Place the cut dough about 2 cm apart, on prepared tray(s).
8. Bake 1 tray at a time for 20 minutes or until firm to tough. Stand on tray(s) for 5 minutes before transferring it to a wire rack to cool completely.

For Decoration:

1. Place white chocolate melts in a heatproof microwave-safe bowl, microwave it on MEDIUM-HIGH for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds till smooth.
2. Spoon 1/2 tablespoon each time into small plastic bag, snip off 1 corner and pipe faces and buttons onto gingerbread men.
3. Decorate the buttons with cachous and or other Christmas decoration sprinkes.
4. For colour icing, you can mixed a drop or two of the desire colour(s) into small amount of melted chocolate, stir till combined and use accordingly.
5. Set aside the completed gingerbread men to set before storing them in air-tight container.

So if you are looking for some quick and easy FUN bake to do with your kid(s) during this festive season perhaps you can consider this “Gingerbread Men”. I am sure your kid(s) would like the process of stirring, rolling, cutting as much as the finally decoration touch up. Have fun everyone!

And now I am submitting this post to "Aspiring Bakers #2: Christmas! (Dec 2010)", hosted by Passionate About Baking at this link HERE.