Zucchini Boats

Who likes to eat Zucchini alone? Not me.. But when you team it with mince and lots of cheese, it's amazing! =) With zucchinis in the picture, you can say that you are having a balanced meal! =P
First you slice the Zucchini is halves, then the onions and capsicum into little pieces.
Fry it till it's soft
Add mince beef
Andddd the tomato sauce and mushrooms. Zomg I love mushrooms!
When you're done, take it off the heat and miz in the Parm and egg
This is what you get!
Scrape out the zucchini meat
Fill the boats with the mince and bake them baby!
Omnomnom.. More food porn for ya!

Italian Zucchini Boats

1 pound ground turkey
1/2 medium white or sweet onion, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1 1/2 cup mushrooms, diced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning (or a combination of parsley, oregano and basil)
Salt and pepper, to taste
Olive oil
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4-5 medium-sized zucchini
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Heat a large skillet or saucepan over medium heat with enough olive oil to coat the pan (roughly 2 tablespoons). Add diced onion and pepper. Saute a few minutes until they begin to soften. Add garlic. Saute another minute, until fragrant.
- Add ground turkey. Use a spatula or wooden spoon to break up the turkey and combine with the onion mixture. Cook until meat is browned.
- Add mushrooms and tomato sauce (or crushed tomatoes). Stir to combine. Add italian seasoning or spices. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir to combine.
- Continue cooking the filling until most of the liquid has evaporated and the mixture has thickened a bit. Once thickened, remove from heat and allow to partially cool.
- In the meantime, slice each zucchini lengthwise. Use a spoon to scoop out the insides of each zucchini half, leaving a shell that is roughly 1/4 inch thick all the way around. Place zucchini shells in a large baking dish that is filled with 1/4 inch water.
- Once the filling has cooled, stir in the Parmesan cheese and beaten egg.
- Scoop the filling into the empty zucchini shells.
- Carefully place the baking dish into the oven (careful not to spill the water!) and bake for 25-20 minutes.
- Remove from oven and top with shredded mozzarella cheese. Return to oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

I got the recipe here

I just got back to Malaysia and I'm a bit busy at the moment settling some things before I leave for KL for my internship. Bear with me while I sort through holiday pics! Hope everyone is having an awesome hol! =)

Just left Wellington and I'm now in Napier. Will be traveling all the way up to Auckland and then back to Malaysia. Be back soon with awesome photos and food reviews! =)

Mini Meatloaves

Mini Meatloaves! So cute! =) And they taste amazing too!
First you chop up the capsicum
Then the onions.. John is my hand model/kitchen hand today because his hands are prettier =P
Add thyme salt and pepper
Fry it baby!
Mix everything in a large bowl: onions, capsicums, eggs, breadcrumbs and beef mince
It's kind of gross when you think of them as meat muffins eh? =X
MEAT MUFFINSSSSS. Oh I forgot to take a picture but you have to put some tomato sauce on top of each one.
Fresh from the oven! Best way to have them. They are really filling too. I ate 239082382098 4 before I had to admit defeat.

The recipe can be found here and I've pasted it below =)

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1 cup chopped green pepper
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1.5 pounds ground beef
1/2 cup plain dry bread crumbs
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup ketchup

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Heat the olive oil in a medium saute pan. Add the onions, green pepper, thyme, salt, and pepper and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes, until the onions are translucent but not brown.

Remove the pan from the heat, and add the Worcestershire sauce and tomato paste. Allow to cool slightly.

In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, onion and green pepper mixture, bread crumbs, and eggs, and mix by hand until the ingredients are well distributed.

Place foil liners into a 12-cup muffin pan and shape individual portions of meatloaf to fit each muffin cup. Spread about a tablespoon of ketchup on the top of each portion.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the internal temperature is 155-160 degrees and the meatloaves are cooked through. Serve hot.

Enjoy!

Two Chefs Bistro, Dunedin

I don't see the point in making a point to make reservations if I'm going to get stuck near the bathroom. Seriously? Is it because we looked like students? Because I saw two other couples that walked in after us and they got seated at perfectly good tables. Is that prejudice or what? Maybe next time I make a reservation I'll just ask specifically for a table "not beside the toilet thanks". *roll eyes*

I chose this restaurant because the menu looked really good and I have to say I was a little disappointed. Had the Catalan Seafood Stew and the menu said tiger prawns. More like little baby prawns. Have they ever actually seen a tiger prawn? I wonder... The serving was a little tiny for the price we paid. We didn't stay for dessert but instead chose to go to Nova instead.

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

Light, fluffy, lemon.. pancakes! Mmm... Why is it so fluffy? Well, like the Austrian Pancakes that I made before, I had to beat the egg whites separately till they were white and fluffy and then fold it into the batter. Made this for brunch the other day but I only have time to share it now. Btw, I just finished my exams today =D Freedommmmmm!!
This is all you need to go to pancake heaven. I'm serious.
You mix the egg yolk, lemon zest, flour, sugar vigorously with a fork. As usual this is the part when I lie to myself that my arm is getting a workout =P
Whisk the egg whites then fold it into the batter, and then fry with butter.
I did not have strawberries so I made a lemon glaze with few drops of lemon juice and icing sugar. Pretty good =)
I love how light, delicious and moist this is because it does not have much flour =)

The recipe which I found here is below

• 4 eggs, separated
• 1 tub (250 grams) or 1 cup (250 ml) ricotta cheese
• 3 tbsp (50 ml) sugar
• ½cup (125 ml) all-purpose flour
• zest of one lemon
• 2 tbsp (25 ml) butter
• 2 cups (500 ml) strawberries, diced
• sugar to taste

In a large mixing bowl, whisk egg yolks, ricotta cheese, sugar, flour and lemon zest.

In another bowl, whip egg whites with a mixer until glossy peaks form. Stir about one-quarter of the whites into the ricotta mixture, then fold in the remaining whites gently.

Melt butter in pan over medium heat, drop batter on using small ladle or large spoon. I used a ¼-cup (50-ml) measure.) Flatten slightly, then let cook for about two minutes per side until lightly browned. Top with macerated strawberries.

Far East Movement - Rocketeer ft. Ryan Tedder

Katy Perry - Firework

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Okay. I got sick of studying so I decided to bake. Also, I realised that I have never baked a simple chocolate chip cookie! Well, it's not that simple really. There are so so many recipes out there, how do you find the perfect one? After much time spent stalking blogs on the Internet, I decided on this *recipe*. It's a recipe from Alton Brown that I found on Joy's website.
Made two batches. The first one were giant cookies, bigger than my face. Okay not really, they were more like half my face... My first batch of cookies were gone in seconds! No... I did not eat them all =P
No that is not a half eaten cookie in the background =P
These were so delicious and chewy! If you love a soft chocolate chip cookie instead of the ones that have crunch in them, you should definitely try this one out! =) Sorry I didn't have any 'process' pictures, I was in a bit of a rush to make these as I had to get back to my studying.

Some cool stuff