Lemon Bars Recipe

Last April 16, we had a wonderful CAMEO Night ( Come And Meet Each Other ladies Night ). We invited owners of Divine Shop in town to showcase their products and to have a lovely night of fun, chat and of course food.

I thought to publish a very easy delicious recipe and one of my favorites - lemon bars from cakes and cookies recipe book. Everyone loves it in the party and it`s so nice and yummy specially when it`s served cold.

Makes 24

Ingredients

175g/6 oz flour
125g/4 oz butter
50g/2 oz granulated sugar
200g/7 oz caster sugar
2 tbsp flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 medium eggs, lightly beaten
juice and finely grated rind of 1 lemon
sifted icing sugar, to decorate

Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/gas mark 3, 10 minutes before baking. Lightly oil and line a 20.5cm/8 inch square cake tin with greaseproof or baking paper.

Rub together the flour and the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the granulated sugar and mix.

Turn the mixture into the prepared tin and press down firmly. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, until pale golden.

Meanwhile, in the food preocessor, mix together the caster sugar, flour, baking powder , salt , eggs, lemon juice and rind until smooth. pour over the prepared base.

Transfer to the preheated oven and bake for a further 20-25 minutes, until nearly set but still a bit wobbly in the centre. Remove from the oven and cool in the tin on a wire rack.

Dust with icing sugar and cut into squares. Serve cold or store in an airtight tin.

Trifle Recipe - another family favorite

The beauty of this dish is that the longer the trifle is left in the fridge, the more the flavours will develop and it`s very refreshing! It`s very light too and perfect match after having a hot spicy meal like curry! It`s perfect dessert too when entertaining friends! We always like trifle, very light to eat, very easy to make and very affordable.

I had a fabulous time with friends this afternoon and i`d like to thank specially my friend Irene who did a wonderful job cooking for us - chicken curry, Filipino noodles (pansit), and duck spring rolls. I`d like to thank Eden as well for making me a delicious chocolaty birthday cake! Wow, what a treat! And i brought a trifle for them.Actually, this recipe is from my mother in law Sue who always love cooking and baking for others. She always gets her inspirations of cooking from Delia Smith but Delia`s recipe of trifle `s got brandy or liqueur in it. For non-alcoholic version of trifle, just simply replace liqueur with fruity syrup of orange, or cranberry, or raspberry, etc.

Serves 4-6
Trifle sponges ( I use 1 pack Trifle Sponges- the ready made one you can buy from the market
135g orange jelly
2 small tins of fruit ( you can choose any fruit you like - on this recipe i use mandarin fruits in small tin )
2 tablespoons of powdered custard (i use Bird`s custard )
2 tablespoons of granulated sugar
1 pint milk
small carton of whipping cream

Cut into large squares the trifle sponges and arrange in the base of a large serving dish.Drain the syrup of the mandarin and put the fruit on top of the sponges as the second layer.Then do melt the jelly cubes .

In the packet instruction of jelly, it says add 1/2 pint boiling water.In our recipe, just add 1/4 pint of boiling water and stir until the jelly totally dissolves. Instead of putting cold water in the jelly i used 3/4 pint of the syrup from a fruit tin to mix with the jelly. Then pour the jelly mixture on top of the fruit.Put the dish in the refrigerator and leave it there for about 3 hours until the jelly sets.

Then do the custard. Put 2 tablespoons of custard and 2 tablespoons of sugar into a jug with small amount of milk and stir. Heat the remaining milk in a saucepan until it nearly boils. Then add the custard and sugar mixture into the saucepan stirring it continuously until it boils. When it`s already a little bit sticky , set aside and cool.

When the jelly is already set, pour the cooled custard on top of the jelly , then add the whipping cream. Yo can decorate your trifle in any way you can. You can top it of with any fruit or sprinkle with almonds and chill!

Let me know if you like. enjoy!!

Chicken and Basil Fried Rice

It`s good to be back in Britain from a fortnight holiday to see my family in Davao City, Philippines. I enjoyed every single day being with them. Eating Asian food was one of the things I enjoyed doing while being there.Today, I`m featuring a rice dish which is very quick and easy to make.My daughter loves this.Let me know if you like it.

Chicken and Basil Fried Rice


Serves4
1/4 cip ( 60 ml) peanut oil
1 medium brown onion, chopped finely
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 long green thai chillies, seeded, chopped finely
1 tablespoon brown sugar
500g chicken breasts fillets, chopped coarsely
2 medium red capsicums, sliced thinly
200g green beans, chopped coarsely
4 cups cooked jasmine rice or long grain rice
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves

Heat oil in wok. Stir fry onion, garlic, and chilli until onion softens. Add sugar, stir fry until dissolved.Add chicken, stir fry until lightly browned. Add capsicum and beans,stir fry until vegetables are just tender and chicken is cooked thoroughly. Add rice to wok with sauces, stir fry , tossing gently to combine. Remove wok from heat, add basil leaves, toss gently to combine.

Featured Family Recipe -Chicken Myers

Featured Family Recipe
Main Course

Chicken Myers- a firm favorite, so quick and easy, and very tasty!

Serves 4

4 tablespoons fresh double cream
4 rounded tablespoons mayonnaise
50g (2 oz) cheddar cheese, grated
298g (10 ½ fl oz) can condensed cream of chicken soup (I used Campbell)
225g (8oz) packet of frozen broccoli, thawed (or fresh, blanched for 1 min in boiling water)
4-6 chicken breasts
½ level teaspoon curry powder

Preheat a moderately hot oven (gas 5, 375 degrees F, and 190 degrees C). Arrange the chicken and broccoli in a shallow baking dish. Combine the undiluted chicken soup with the mayonnaise, cream and curry powder. Spoon this over the chicken and broccoli then sprinkle with the grated cheese. Bake for about 30 mins until chicken is cooked through and the cheese is turning a golden brown. Serve with steam vegetables (like carrots, potatoes, and sweet corn)

Check out chicken myers recipe in a website at Http://www.healthytastyrecipes.com

Welcome to my Blog!

Welcome to my i love cooking- Fantastic Food 4 U blog!!

Well as you can see this is my first post and i`m so excited to write more next time.I`m a full time mum and i have a wonderful precious daughter who`s very active, delightful, happy and who loves her food. I love cooking for her and for the whole family. I`ve been married for a few years now and i discovered that i have a passion for cooking. I started to learn how to cook well since the early stage of having a family of my own and tried different recipes from Asian to western kind of food. My mother in law is the best cook and baker i`ve ever met and she`s a great inspiration to me. Oh i love her and she`s soo kind giving me a hand whenever i need help in the kitchen. My mother too is a good cook and i always remember the delicious meal she prepared for us when my siblings and I were growing up.

Being a full-time mother and wife leads me to discover how fulfilling it is to be able to cook for family and friends. It`s a very nice experience to be able to create your own recipe at home specially at times when you needed to make a meal and you only have to use whatever ingredients you have in the kitchen. Now, i`m very confident in the kitchen and always pleased whenever my husband asked me to prepare food for friends and family.

Food is always been an interest to me and i`m more than happy to share my favorite recipes to everyone.