Since I was busy doing nothing these days, I figured that I might as well do some cooking or baking. So my mum, teacher and many of my friends said that I had grown 'horizontally' rather than 'vertically' nowadays.. Ehehehe... =____= That's why I had somehow 'vowed' and promise myself to cut down my weight by not consuming that much sugar, dairy products and bread... =/ And of course, I'll be putting my dad's treadmill to good use by exercising 20 mins a day. Hopefully, I can keep my word to this promise and go slender and slim~~ LOL! But trying to learn to cook without any assistant from my mum will do me some good, since I had nothing to do. It's better than wasting my time here on the computer, right?
Less talking, more cooking! I'll just copy and paste the ingredients and procedures now. =P
Macaroni and Cheese (Mac 'n' Cheese)
Ta-da!!! Credits go to the NoobCook! =D I adore this website~~ Hehe.Ingredients
(Serves 6)
recipe adapted from meals matter & SoGood.TV- 200g elbow macaroni
- 40g butter
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 300g shredded red cheddar cheese
- 1 piece of plain bread
- 2 cups milk
- 3 tsp grated parmesan cheese (optional)
- 1 bay leaf (optional)
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder (optional)
- 1/2 tsp nutmug powder (optional)Directions
1. Cook macaroni till al dente according to package instructions. Drain the macaroni in a colander, rinse with cold water and lay them flat on a roasting tray/casserole.
2. Use a food processor/blender to grind a piece of bread till it resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.
3. In a heated saucepan/wok, melt butter. When all the butter has melted, add in the flour and stir gently.
4. Add milk, bay leaf (optional) and continue stirring till mixture thickens.
5. Add salt, pepper and if you like the taste of the following, add them as well – cinnamon powder and nutmug powder. Add half the shredded cheese and reserve the other half for later.
6. When all the cheese has melted and the mixture is even (it should be of a slightly thick consistency), taste a bit of the mixture and season accordingly if needed. Pour the mixture over the macaroni. Stir to make sure that the macaroni is fully coated in the sauce.
7. Top the macaroni with the remaining cheddar cheese, followed by breadcrumbs (you don’t have to use all) and parmesan cheese.
8. Bake at 180C (360F) for about 30 minutes, till the sauce is bubbly and the top is slightly browned.
I've made some bread pudding last month and some Beignets (Ben-yays). A Beignet is a French Donut which is a delicacy in New Orleans, USA. I came across this yummy, yummy yum-yum when I was watching 'The Princess and the Frog'... It's the bun-like bread with honey and icing sugar dusting. But my recipe didn't need the honey. It's easy to make and simply DELISH~
I found the video of this yum-yum on Youtube. Here's the recipe! But I've read someone's comment below saying that this isn't Beignets but Italian Zepollies. =/ Oh well, at least it's something edible and something yummy!! =D
Beignets (serve 6)
For the video, please click here!
Ingredients:
- 165 ml water
- 45g butter, cubed
- pinch of salt
- 125 flour
- 3 eggs
- 1 tbsp pastry cream (optional)
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 500ml vegetable oil
- icing sugar for dusting
Procedure:
1. Boil the water, butter and salt for 1/2 min in a small pot. Add flour when butter is completely melted and quickly stir the mixture to get a dough. Remove the pan from the heat.
2. Add the eggs one by one. Only add the next egg after the previous egg is completely mixed with the dough.
3. Add your pastry cream and sugar. Mix well.
4. Shape the Beignets working with two spoons to form a rounded shape. Deep fry it.
5. After that, place the fried Beignets on kitchen towel to drain excess oil. Then dust it with icing sugar.
6. Serve!!! =D
See?? Easy-peasy~~ If you tried it, tell me how it went and the taste.. Good luck in the kitchen!
