Friday, October 26, 2007

Fast Foodie

A junior of mine is going to New York soon for a year or two. Being of the non-cooking type she has requested me to put up some easy to cook recipes so here they are:

-Rezzle's Juicy Beef Burger-
This takes up probably 15mins or less of your time if you have the necessary ingredients. Why beef burger when you can get it at all fast food outlets? Well the "beef patties" that we get contain only a small portion of beef and a large part are really fillers which are cheap and make up the bulk. Its junk food. Real beef patties on the other hand are wholesome nutritious stuff.

Ingredients: minced beef, salt, pepper, 1 egg, onion, tomato-basil sauce, plain flour, Turkish rolls or any bun, tomato, lettuce and mayonnaise. (For the ultimate version you will need fresh button mushrooms, garlic and balsamic vinegar.) Basically these are simple day to day ingredients.

Steps: Slice a few strips of onion and dice it. The amount depends on how much you like onions. Throw this into a bowl with minced beef, crack an egg into it and start blending. Pour in bits of flour to make it into a soft dough-like consistency. Put it 2 tablespoons of tomato-basil sauce. Add in salt and pepper. Those who are more into flavor may want to blend in some Worchester Sauce into the patty as well so that it tastes even better. Mix it up till its slightly firm. Take a portion with a tablespoon and roll it into a ball with your hands and flatten it but not too thin ( about thickness of two fingers or 1 and a half depending on whether you have fat fingers or not). Prepare a hot frying pan with oil and lay it on. 1min on each side to brown it nicely (the interior and center will still be somewhat pinky don't worry), take it out and chuck it into the microwave for 1.2 mins. This will give you a juicy patty. Most burger joints just grill the patty totally and this makes it dry out real easy. Using my method you will produce a juicy patty instead of a dried out hard patty. Even non-cooks can make a nice burger with this method. The next step is to just put on the patty , slices of tomato and lettuce plus add some mayonnaise to the veges. Wala! Juicy beef burger express mode. The more lavish ultimate version is to exclude tomato slices but throw in a stir-fried mushroom mix. For those with an extra 5mins do the following: fry some garlic and throw in sliced button mushroom, fry till mushroom bleeds water, add salt, pepper and balsamic vinegar to taste. Scoop and lay on the patty before adding the lettuce. No need to add mayonnaise if you have this mushroom mix. For those who are really gourmets you may want to apply some butter to both sides of the bun and toast it lightly on a pan.

-Rezzle's Yummy Fried Rice-
This is a cheaper alternate version of yangzhou fried rice. A fast meal as well. A classmate commented on how restaurant-like my fried rice is. Hehe yea well I like quality in my food if I can help it. Plus it doesn't take too much time.

Ingredients: refrigerated cooked rice, luncheon meat, onion, mixed vege(peas, carrots, corn), prawns, 1 egg, salt, pepper, soya sauce and sesame seed oil.

Steps: Dice the onion, just a small palm bit of onions will do. Fry diced onions till its fragrant, add luncheon meat and fry till its slightly crisp, throw in prawns and fry till they turn orange white. Throw in rice and fry for a bit . Beat an egg in a bowl and add it in. Stir quickly to coat the rice in egg evenly. Throw in mixed veges. Add salt, pepper, soya sauce and sesame seed oil to taste and stir well. The important thing is speed here as most of the frying is done on high heat so don't dilly dally. Stir fast and don't let the stuff burn.

- Chicken Mushroom Bee Hoon soup-
Refreshing asian style bee hoon soup is a nice choice on hot summer days when your appetite isn't good.

Ingredients: shitake mushroom, chicken wings, Knows Chicken cube, Bak Choy, fried onions, soya sauce, sesame seed oil and ginger.

Steps: Heat a pot of water, bring it to a boil and add bee hoon. Upon softening, empty the contents of the pot into a sieve and rinse bee hoon with cold water. Set aside first. To another pot add water chicken wings and ginger, bring it to a boil and then lower heat to simmer, add the Knows chicken cube. let the soup simmer for half an hour. Meanwhile take garlic fry till fragrant and add shitake mushroom. Fry it it bleed water add salt , pepper and soya sauce. Set it aside. When soup bas is ready add bak choy and cook till it softens to a light translucent green. Add in bee hoon and shitake mushrooms. Taste the soup if not tasty add soya sauce and salt till its right. Also add pepper and sesame seed oil. Finally throw some fried onions in and there's your lunch.

-ABC SOUP-
Traditional Hainanese light soup.

Ingredients: Chicken wings/ Pork ribs, carrots, potato and onion.

Steps: To a pot of cold water add chicken or pork, bring it to a boil and then lower the heat. Throw in potatoes, onions and carrots. Just cut them into fish ball size bits will do. Cover the lid and simmer for 1 hr.