I made yummy bak kwa! ^^

Fatty hubby and piggies love bak kwa @ long yoke @ pork jerky. Me, I can pretty much go without it and not miss it at all ^^

But we don't eat much of it these days due to the nitrate scare, and the other additives/preservatives that (might) come with it.

This CNY, fatty hubby and I shared the tiniest piece of bak kwa ever! So fatty still craves for a bite or two, or more! Hence when I told him about the homemade bak kwa I read in mel's blog (thanks, mel ^^), he's been bugging me with.. "when are you going to make bak kwa???"

Bak kwa (recipe inspired by mel@melspantrykitchen, adapted from nasilemaklover)

450g minced pork (I used 100% minced pork belly ~ a mistake! best to use a mixture of lean and fat)
100g sugar
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1/2 tbsp chinese rice wine
1/2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp dark caramel sauce
a dash of pepper
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp honey

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl with a chopstick. Blend and stir in one direction till the meat comes together or becomes "gluey". Store in the fridge for a few hours (Oops! I missed this part and used immediately! ^^|| no harm, I think :p)

2. Spread the marinated minced pork thinly onto a 13x13 inch baking tray (no need to grease), using fingers to spread.

3. Bake in a pre-heated oven of 160C for 15-20 minutes.

4. Remove baking tray from oven and turn oven to 240C.

5. When meat is cool, cut into desired size and shape using scissors, knife or pizza cutter.. ~ makes 9 pieces.

6. Place meat back into oven and grill (using top heat only) at 240C (I recommend using 230C) for 10 minutes, or when it's golden brown. Then flip meat over and grill for 7 minutes, or till golden brown. Be very careful while grilling, as meat tends to burn very fast at 240C! 

I cannot believe I made bak kwa! So easy! And the best part, EVERYONE loves it! Especially the thick bak kwa over the thin ones ^^! Yes, greedy me made 2 portions! ^^

And now, I'll just leave you with the thought of baby pig licking his bak kwa ^^ It's that good!!!

Crispy potato skins with creamy honey mustard

1st batch ~ a bit more burnt would've been perfect! 

When I saw this recipe while googling for party food (for big's party last month), I knew it was something I wanted to make.. for myself ^^!

Crispy potato skins with creamy honey mustard (adapted from here)
6 baking potatoes
5 tbsp olive oil
200ml tub sour cream
3 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp honey (add more if you prefer a sweeter dip ^^)

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Prick potatoes all over with a fork and bake for 1 hour.

2. Remove from oven and leave to cool. Cut each potato into 8 wedges and put in a large bowl with olive oil. Season generously (salt + pepper???). Make sure each wedge is well coated with oil and seasoning.

3. Stand the potato wedges on a large non-stick baking sheet and bake 180C for 30 minutes or until really crispy and golden (potato skins tastes best when it's almost burnt ~ I know cos I burnt my 2nd batch.. and it's delish ^^!)!

4. Mix sour cream with honey and mustard till well blended. Best serve wedges straight from the oven with dip. (I had mine cooled and it was still yummy ^^)

Note: potatoes and dip can be prepared a day before. Just bake wedges 1/2 an hour before serving.

BEWARE!!! These potato skins with creamy honey mustard are really addictive!!! Piggies polished off a batch, that's half the recipe, in just one sitting! And this despite baby pig's complaint that the skins were kinda tough and chewy (??)!

I must say the potato skins on their own are decent but really nothing to shout about.. till you dip them in the creamy honey mustard ^^ And whoaaa..ahhhh.. ^^ ^^ ^^

Not the best looking potato skins (my fault ^^||), but delish nevertheless ^^

Cheese twists

sorry bout the blurry pix ~ they were taken at night ^^|| 

Do these look like cheese twists to you? Well, they are.. even if they don't look it! (^^)

These are the little I made, 2 days ago, just to see if it could work. AND.. it's very good even if they do look "twisted", and with just grated cheddar cheese ^^! Big and fatty hubby loves it! ^^ So it's definitely on the menu for big pig's upcoming party this weekend ^^ Btw, this idea came from lynna@heartsinmyoven's pesto cheese sticks ^^.

Since these are really easy to make, I'm sure no one really needs a recipe once you get the idea of how it's done (see lynna's post and this) ^^ and you can use your preferred cheese and ingredients on your sticks. I don't think it's really that important to measure the ingredients.. I used a bit of this, and a bit of that.. ^^|| well, enough to cover the the pastry/sticks, anyways ^^! And it's really easy if you use ready-made puff pastry, especially if you can find the ready-rolled square-cut 4"x4" slices ^^.

Well, I've just completed a big batch of these with grated cheddar and parmesan, and some with oregano flakes. It's now stuffed in bags in the freezer, ready for baking on the big day ^^.

Cheesy, crisp and golden (fingers crossed ^^!) ~ let's hope them hungry teens like ^^!