Steamed Milkfish (Bangus)
Topic: Fish
I did not able to finish my fasting yet, I have 6 absences in the month of Ramadan but my hubby asked me not to fast on Friday since he wanted to eat lunch at home, I don't know why he said that, I can still cook for his lunch even I'm fasting, why he did not tell me "I wanna eat lunch with you at home" instead, I wonder why! Lol :).

So yesterday I planned to broil the Milkfish but I just found out that I ran out of aluminum foil at home when I'm about to cook it and lunch time is already near, my hubby arrived already from the mosque. So the most fastest way to cook it is steaming as an alternative. There are many variations to steam the fish, some are adding olive oil, sesame oil, lemon juice, fish sauce, soy sauce etc. all variations has its own unique delicious taste. For the one I prepared yesterday, I just made it simple because I was in hurry but sometimes things when made in a simple way are the best. Lol! For the 1 Bangus, I just cleaned it, split and open the fish into the middle lenghtwise but without separating it, then put it in a dish, sprinkle some black pepper on it, add slices of ginger and scallions, then added few light soy sauce ands sesame seed oil on it, then I steamed the fish for 15-20 minutes. That's it! :) The simple combination of the ingredients was really satisfying, try it!

Ants Climbing a Tree
Topic: Noodles
Very interesting name! I already cooked this dish before I knew its name. I just knew it recently while I was browsing a Thai cooking website.

Accordingly, this is a classic dish in Chinese Cuisine. It consists of a ground meat cooked in a sauce and poured over bean thread noodles (Sotanghon). It is so called because the bits of ground meat that cling to the noodles evoke an image of ants walking on twigs of a tree. Some ingredients to be used in this dish are soy sauce, vegetable oil, sesame oil green onions, garlic and pepper.

There are many variations in cooking this dish, while me, I cooked it this way:

Sorry, the ants are not clearly visible in the picture, they are very tiny. LOL :)

Ingredients:
100 g bean thread noodles (sotanghon)
1/2 cup dried mushrooms, soaked in water then sliced
2/3 cup ground beef
2 tbsp. ginger, crushed then sliced thinly
1 stalk green onions, cut into 1 inch length diagonally
1/4 cup broth
1 red chili pepper, chopped
1 tsp. chili sauce
2 tbsp. vegetable oil

Marinade:
1 tbsp. light soy sauce
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. fish sauce
1/2 tsp. cornstarch

Directions:
1. Soak noodles in hot water until they are pliable (about 5 minutes). Drain well. Cut the noodles into shorter lengths.
2. Mix all the marinade ingredients then marinate ground beef for 15 minutes.
3. Heat 1 tbsp. vegetable oil in a wok. Add the marinated beef. Stir-fry until the beef has changed color and is nearly cooked through. Remove from the wok. Clean out the wok.
4. Add 1 tbsp. vegetable oil to the wok. Add the chili pepper and ginger. Stir-fry briefly until aromatic. Add the dried mushrooms. Stir-fry fro few seconds, then stir in the chili sauce and the noodles. Add the broth in the middle of the wok. Add the ground beef to the mixture. Stir until cooked through.
5. Stir in the green onions. Mix everything together and cook for 30 seconds. Serve.

Egg Omelet
Topic: Breakfast Recipes
My son's favorite, egg omelet. He liked it to be plain only with no additional ingredients. But sometimes I cooked it this way and I served it with fried rice and chicken franks, and he still eat it.

Ingredients:
2 Eggs
1/4 cup fresh Milk
1 tsp. Flour
a pinch of Baking powder
1 stalk green onions, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil

Directions:
1. Beat eggs, milk, baking powder, flour, salt, and pepper. Mix in green onions.
2. Heat oil in small skillet. Pour in enough mixture just to cover bottom of the pan. Cover and cook slowly until firm. Continue until mixture is finished. Serve.

Stuffed Eggplant
Topic: Vegetables

Ingredients:
1 eggplant (round or big variety), cut into half
2/3 cup ground beef
1 small onion, minced
1/2 tsp. ginger powder
1 tbsp. worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup chopped red capsicum
1 long green pepper, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp. tomato paste
1/2 tsp. sugar
2 tbsp. olive oil
grated cheese

Directions:
1. Scrape the eggplant's meat with a knife, leave only about half centimeter thick from the skin. Keep the eggplants "boat" aside.
2. Chopped the scraped eggplant's meat.
3. Heat oil in a skillet, saute onion, then add ground beef. Stir until the color change, then add the worcestershire sauce and ginger powder. Mix well.
4. Add the rest of the ingredients except cheese, cook until the eggplants are tender. Remove from heat.
5. Fill the eggplants' "boat" with the cooked mixture until full.
6. Bake in a preheated 250 degree C oven for 20 minutes.
7. Sprinkle grated cheese on top, then bake again for 2 minutes. Serve as a side dish.

Choco & Oats Macaroon
Topic: Desserts
When it was already 22:00 pm while were watching TV at night, my hubby will start to asked what should we ate, is there some foods in the kitchen to eat? The other night he asked again, did the food cooked already? Actually no food was being cooked that time, that's his one way of requesting! Hehe, so I went to the kitchen to prepare this one, I saw this recipe once in a dessert website long time ago, I tried it the other night and well, I think it's okay but I still prefer Coconut Macaroons.

Ingredients:
3 tbsp. chocolate powder
3 tbsp. butter
1 1/2 cups oatmeal
11/2 cup desiccated coconut
1/3 cup fresh milk
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Directions:
1. Combine chocolate powder, butter, fresh milk and sugar in a pan, heat for 2 minutes. Add oatmeal and stir for 20-30 seconds.
2. Remove from heat and add vanilla.
3. Add coconut and mix well.
4. Drop 1 teaspon of the mixture onto wax paper, serve when cooled.