Clever Food Blog

Bored with ordinary white pizza crust? What about green pizza crust? Yes you heard it correctly green pizza crust.

admin — Fri, 04 Jun 2021 11:08:52 +0000

Do you sometimes get bored just eating the same white pizza over and over again? Well I do. So, to kill that boring white pizza crust I made green pizza crust with spinach starch. I am sure some of you like to try. Here is the recipe for it.

Crust/base:

A handful fresh spinach.

180 ml warm water.

275 gr strong white bread flour.

1 teaspoon active dry yeast.

2 tablespoons olive oil.

Half teaspoon salt.

A pinch of white sugar.

Topping:

100 gr anchovies in oil.

100 gr capers.

200 gr pitted green olive.

200 gr grated mozzarella.

For the tomato sauce;

1 can (400)gr chopped tomatoes. (Blender it)

1 tablespoon dry marjoram.

A pinch of salt.

Method:

Put together the water and spinach in a blender and pulse it until smooth. Then pour it thorough sieves to get only the liquid. Set aside.

In another bowl mix together the dry ingredients and mix it well.

Add the oil into the spinach liquid then pour it into the dry ingredients, mix it with spatula until all liquid is absorbed.

Once all liquid are absorbed use your hand to knead it for about 7-10 minutes. By this time you will get firm but elastic texture from the dough. Let it rest for 45 minutes with a cover over the bowl.

After 45 minutes, knock the air out of the dough and divided it to two smaller dough ball. Let it rest for another 30 minutes.

You can prepare the topping of your liking while waiting. With me I made anchovies pizza as that is our favorite.

Oh if you don’t have passata or tomato puree. Don’t worry, most of us has a can of tomato in the cupboard so just run your blender again to make tomato passata, add some oregano or marjoram to make it taste like you are eating pizza in Italia .

I made 2 of 11″ pizza with this recipe for not too thick but neither paper thin crust. Good luck.

Some people call it snow pea and others call it mangetout. What do you call it in your home area?

admin — Wed, 09 Sep 2020 15:08:38 +0000

You can serve this dish with olive oils mashed potatoes or you can just skip the mashed potatoes if you not fancy carbohydrate. Either way you serve it you will enjoy this simple but delicious dish. Go on check your freezer, make sure you have some salmon in stock.

Salmon steak with mangetout salad

Ingredients:

2 slice of salmon steak (180 g each).

200 gr snow pea/mangetout.

1 tablespoon aji-mirin (Japanese vinegar).

1 tablespoon roasted white sesame seed.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Method:

Wash the salmon and then pad dry them with paper towel/kitchen roll, season with salt and pepper and set aside.

Meanwhile wash the snow pea and dry them in a salad dryer/spinner, trim the both end of the pea and then slice them length ways thinly (thin match stick). In a bowl mix together the pea, mirin and sesame seed add salt and pepper to taste then put them in the fridge while you cook the salmon steak.

Heat up a griddle or grill or frying pan, cook the salmon for 3 minutes each side then switch off the flame and let the salmon seat for at least 2 minutes in the hot grill/griddle/frying pan. Arrange your pea salad on the plate and then put the salmon steak on top of it. Serve with olive oil mash potato.

Serve 2

Olive oil mash potato.

Ingredients:

500 gr potato (2 medium size).

3 cloves of garlic.

½ teaspoon salt.

½ teaspoon black pepper powder or freshly ground.

60 ml olive oil.

Enough water to boil or steam the potato.

Method:

Peel the potatoes cut them into chunk then boil or steam them with the garlic until very soft (reduces or skips the garlic if you or your family is not garlic lover).

When the potatoes are cook drain the water if you boil them add the salt and pepper and set aside for a minute.

Meanwhile in a different saucepan heat up the olive oil until smoking hot but not burn, switch off the fire and then add in the potatoes into the hot olive oil and mash them together with your masher or a hand mixer. Mash potato shall have smooth silky texture and rich of olive flavor, if you don’t get that it means your oil is not hot enough.

Serve 4

This recipe contains nuts!!! A sweet and tangy mixed with nutty flavour, really good side dish for roast pork or chicken.

admin — Wed, 09 Sep 2020 14:42:25 +0000

Baked apple can be very tasty and juicy when it done right. The sweet and tangy flavour mixed with the nuts filling really make a different as a side dish. When I first try it I don’t really like it, but then like everything else I need to learn to like it. We don’t have it very often, but when we do have it we make it the best. Here is my recipe for bake apple. A good side dish for roast pork or chicken.

Here I use granny smith apples, because that was what available on the market in our area at the time we live in Asia. Of course you can use any cooking apples that are available in you local market or area.

This recipe contains nuts!!!

Baked apple.

Ingredients:

4 whole granny smith apple. or any cooking apple you can buy.

1 tablespoon dried mixed fruits (raisin, cranberry and apricot) roughly chopped.

1 tablespoon pine nut, roughly chopped.

1 teaspoon butter (divided into 4).

To taste salt and pepper.

Method:

Heat up the oven to 180C gas mark 6.
Wash and dry the apples then core them set aside, be careful not to poke a hole on the outer skin.
Mixed together the dry nuts and dry fruits in a bowl add salt and pepper to taste.
Stuff the nut mixture into the apples and topped with butter and bake it for thirty five minutes.
Best as a side dish for roasted pork or chicken.
This recipe will serve 4 person as a side dish.

Soft and smooth. This Italian not too sweet dessert is probably the dessert that everyone of you wanting.

admin — Tue, 08 Sep 2020 10:53:33 +0000

Tiramisu is a coffee flavoured dessert make of layers of ladyfingers, mascarpone cheese, eggs,and chocolate. However I am not using eggs in this recipe but it believe me it’s delicious even without eggs. The strong coffee flavour, the creamy mascarpone and the smell of the chocolate is definitely make you wanting more. Here is my recipe of my tiramisu. Because I cannot get any mascarpone when I needed it, here I use ordinary cream cheese.

400 gr cream cheese.

150 ml double cream.

100 gr icing sugar.

200 ml espresso coffee. (I made with two tablespoons instant coffee with 200 ml boiling water).

300 gr ladyfingers.

1 tablespoon dark chocolate powder.

Home made tiramisu without an eggs.

In this recipe I am using 20 cm round mold or spring form cake tin.

In a bowl mix together the cream cheese, double cream and sugar. Please Do Not over mix it because the cream will turn into butter in no time. What you need is creamy, fluffy consistency, not buttery cream cheese. Set aside.

Dip the ladyfingers one by one in the warm coffee, then stand them on the side of the cake tin. You might need to cut some of the end off if you using same size tin as mine. You will need about 18 pieces of them for the standing frame. Next dip some more of the ladyfingers and lay them on the bottom of the tin, then add some of the cream cheese. Smoother it with the bottom of dinner spoon then sifter some of the chocolate powder. Repeat the process until all cream cheese are use up.

Best to make the night before and keep it in the fridge over night. Just before serving sift some more of the chocolate powder on top.

This tender and juicy meat patties is widely known as a hamburger in the whole world and I am sure everyone knows it.

admin — Mon, 07 Sep 2020 15:37:29 +0000

Widely know around the world as a hamburger. although i don’t really know the meaning of hamburger but i like making it myself. I just call it burger some of you also probably call it pasties or patties. One thing for sure is if you make your own burger, you know how much fat in your meats because you can choose from range of 5%,15%, or 35% fat in your minced meat. You also can mix with different minced like chicken or pork for example.

Anyway here I only use minced beef and that is 5% fat lean minced. My husband often says he is eating the best burger in the world. (I am flying high whenever he says that). Happily sharing my home made burger recipe with you all. Here is what you will need for home made best burger.

750 gr minced beef 5% fat.

3 clove of garlic. chopped and fry with 1 tablespoon olive oil.

1 egg.

1 tablespoon fry shallot. (you can buy in a supermarket) or make your own.

1 teaspoon of salt.

2 teaspoons ground black pepper.

2 tablespoons all purpose flour.

some bacon if you want to wrap your burger in it. (must try)

Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix it well. divided into 4 portions (about 200 gr uncooked burger). Using both of your palm bash each individual until it firm then flatten it to shape it into burger.

You can wrap it with bacon or cook on it’s own. Cook each burger for 3 minutes each side to get beautifully brown outside but tender and juicy inside. You can even freeze some if you have left over uncooked burger. Good luck.

This soft and fluffy cake will not stay long on your table. It definitely did not stay long on my table.

admin — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 15:04:00 +0000

This chiffon cake is very easy and definitely you will not fail if you follow the instructions correctly.

First things first; make sure you have chiffon cake tin. Do Not use non stick cake tin as it will make your chiffon cake sink.

Second things; make sure your oven is in the right temperature before you put the cake in the oven.

And last but not least; Do Not over mixed the batter.

Let’s start. Here is the ingredients you will need.

4 large eggs (room temperature).
100 gr caster sugar.
80 gr all purpose flour.
20 gr corn flour.
70 ml coconut milk.
60 ml coconut oil or vegetable oil.
1 tablespoon lemon juice.

Method;

Heat up the oven to 170C fan oven, 3 gas mark, 338 Fahrenheit.

Separate eggs yolk from the white.

Mix the yolk with 20 gr of the sugar, coconut milk, oil, and flours. Mix well but do not over mix it. Set aside.

In a separate bowl beat the eggs white with a hand mixer on medium speed, gradually add in the remaining sugar and lemon juice. Beat it for about 4 minutes from the start, then switch it off.

Scoop two tablespoons of the eggs white mixture into the eggs yolks mixture, fold it gently with spatula. Once it all mixed up pour the eggs yolk mixture into the eggs white mixture and again fold it gently. Do Not over mix it.

Pour the batter into chiffon cake tin and bake it in the oven for 45-55 minutes.

Always check your cake with cocktail stick or cake tester before take it out of the oven.

Once the cake is baked, take it out the oven and quickly turn it upside down to cool. See picture. Let it completely cool before you cut it.

Yes, i had try and fail plenty of time before. So this is not my first time. Keep trying and you will get the best results of your creations. Best of luck.

First I came across tomato rice was when we were on holiday in Portugal.

admin — Wed, 12 Aug 2020 13:59:53 +0000

Tomato rice and prawn curry.

For the rice you will need:
1 cup of jasmine rice. (Washed)
11/2 cup of water.
6 pieces cherry tomatoes.(cut into quarter).
6 pieces dry tomatoes in oil. (Slice each of the into 4 or 5 slice)
2 clove of garlic. (Smashed)
Half teaspoon of salt.
1 teaspoon tomato puree.

Put all the ingredients in a rice cooker let the machine do the job or use medium saucepan and cook it with a high flame until it is boiling then turn down the flame to low and cook it until all the water is absorbed by the rice. Stir it once or twice to get the flavour mixed in.

You can use any tomatoes that is available in your kitchen.

Prawn curry recipe.

For the curry paste:
1 tablespoon madras curry powder. ( Use less if you don’t like spicy).
1 teaspoon coriander powder.
1 teaspoon ginger powder.
1 teaspoon garam masala. (Optional).
1 teaspoon cardamom powder.
1 big red or purple onion.
3 cloves garlic.
1 teaspoon brown sugar.
2 tablespoons cooking oil.

In a mortar and pestle pound together the ingredients above to make a paste. Or if you only have blender that’s fine too, just use your blender.

I like using a mortar and pestle because I get more flavour out of the ingredients. But I understand that not many people have that tool and they are not familiar with them.

400 gr fresh grey king praws. (Shelled and deveined)
3 stalks of celery.
60 gr baby carrots.
60 gr button mushrooms.
200 ml coconut milk or use natural yoghurt if you cannot get coconut milk.
Salt to taste.

I know some people do not like shelling and deveining prawn or shrimp. You can always get frozen ready to cook prawn from the store of course but I personally like the fresh prawns, because they taste like prawn instead of chewy and tasteless frozen prawns.

Again the vegetable you want to put in your curry is up to you and what you like. This is just a guide for cooking your own curry. In here we use vegetables that is available in our kitchen. Also prepare it the way you like it, we do like chunks.

Heat up a wok or soup pot with medium flame.(always start with medium flame because you don’t want to burn your cooking pots). Put the curry paste in the wok and stir-fry it until fragrant and slightly changing colour. Gradually add in the vegetables and cook it for about 6-8 minutes.

After the vegetables are cooked, turn the flame to high and add in the prawns and coconut milk or yogurt, cook it for another 2-3 minutes or until bubbling then switch off the flame.

Now, some may ask why do you cook the prawns for such a short time? Because you don’t want to loose the flavour and texture of your prawn. Seafood is best cooked with a high flame and for a short time.

This recipe is for two, if you want more just add more of the ingredients.

Black pepper can be very good dish for cold winter days.

admin — Fri, 07 Aug 2020 14:43:34 +0000

Black pepper chicken breast.

We have received many questions for what you can do with chicken breast.I know in these hot summer days black pepper chicken does not sound appetising but could be good for planning for the cold season coming.

Here is what you need for black pepper chicken using chicken breast fillet.

600 gr chicken breast fillet (thinly sliced).
1 tablespoon black pepper corns.
1 tablespoon coriander seeds.
20 gr fresh ginger (peeled).
1 red onion.
3 cloves of garlic.
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce. (Less salt).
1 tablespoon oysters sauce.
1 tablespoon sweet soy sauce or use brown sugar if you don’t have any sweet soy sauce.
100 ml water.
1 teaspoon corn flour diluted with 1 tablespoon of water.
2 tablespoons cooking oil.

Method;

Marinate the thinly slice chicken with dark, less salt soy sauce. Set aside.

Meanwhile, in a food processor or a blender or mortar and pestle even better. Mix together the black pepper, coriander seeds, onion, garlic, and ginger and make it into paste.

Once you have done that, heat up the oil in a medium flame and cook the paste until fragrant. Lower the flame and gradually add in the chicken, sweet soy sauce or brown sugar, oyster sauce and water. Cook until the chicken is tender. Check for taste and thicken with the corn flour mixture at the end of cooking, then switch off the flame.

Serve with white jasmine rice or short pasta.

Serves four persons.

Since i was a little girl I always like fried chicken. To be able to make one myself is another things however.

admin — Thu, 30 Jul 2020 17:56:44 +0000

Since I was a little girl, I always like fried chicken. To be able to make one is another things however. Crispy fried chicken no less. After I tried so many different recipes and so many different methods I think this one is my by far favourite. I like to share it with you guys my crispy fried chicken recipe.

Choose the freshest chicken you possibly can. I use a boneless chicken thighs in this recipe, but you can use a whole chicken if you like. If I use a whole chicken I like to rub some salt and lemon juice and let it rest for about 5 minutes and then wash it with running water and pat it dry with paper towels. Some people says don’t wash poultry, but I always wash my whole chicken.

Here is what you need to make delicious crispy fried chicken.

600 gr boneless chicken thighs. Season it with:

1 tablespoon coriander powder.

1 teaspoon of salt.

2 teaspoons black pepper powder.

1 teaspoon chili powder. (Skip it if you don’t like it or add more if you wanting more spicy.

1 tablespoon garlic powder.

1 tablespoon ginger powder.

Set aside in the fridge for two hours or more. I left mine in the fridge for overnight. Next we will prepare the dipping batter and the dry coating.

Here is what we need for the dipping batter.

1/2 a cup of milk.

1/2 a cup of all purpose flour.

1/2 teaspoon salt.

1/2 teaspoon black pepper powder.

1 teaspoon baking soda.

1 whole egg.

Mix it together in a bowl and let it rest in the fridge while we prepare the dry coating.

Here is what we need for the dry coating.

600 gr all purposes flour.

2 teaspoons salt.

2 teaspoons black pepper powder.

2 teaspoons baking soda.

Sift it together and put it in a baking tray. Double or triple sift it for better mixing.

Don’t forget the oil for deep frying it.

Now is the method:

I know it sounds a lot of work and seasonings for just fried chiken but the results will definitely will make you wanting more.

Heat up plenty of oil in a deep frying pan or like me just use one of the bigger saucepan in the kitchen.

Coat the chicken thighs in the dry coating flour (one at the time) then dipping it in the dipping batter and back to the dry coating flour again. Set it in one side of the dry coating flour. Repeat the process while waiting the oil to get to the temperature. I don’t measure it but you can tell when the oil is hot enough.

Depending how big your frying pan is, mine only big enough for two pieces. Do not put in too many because the baking soda will work it is magic and your flour coated chicken will grew bigger. Fry the chicken untill golden brown for about 7 minutes in a medium flame. You will get crispy golden chicken but still soft and juicy inside.

If you not sure about for how long you need to cook them you can just fry it for couple of minutes to get the crisps then bake it in the oven for 15 minutes at 160C.

I am sure everyone knows pasta. Those plain white and sometimes colorful, combinations of wheat flour, water and eggs as well.

admin — Wed, 22 Jul 2020 10:49:39 +0000

I am sure everyone knows pasta. Those plain white or yellowish and sometimes colorful, combinations of wheat flour, water and eggs as well. Have you made your own pasta at home? It is simple actually, but you need a pasta maker to make it into shapes. Anyway we are not going to make fresh pasta today, but we are going to cook vegetarian warm pasta salad.

We do a lot of traveling with our motor-home, or RV some people might call it, so having quick and easy meals is sometimes the best option after a whole day exploring a city or a town. Here is where dry pasta comes in handy to have in our cupboard when we traveling. It lasts longer than fresh pasta and is useful as an emergency food or just for carbohydrate when we need it. I am not a big eating out person, so even after a whole day exploring a city or sometimes walk up a hill in the country side, I choose to make my own dinner. This one we made just at the outskirts of Malmo last year.

Here is all you need to make this colorful delicious warm pasta salad for two:

70 gr dry fusilli.

1/2 cup sliced green bell pepper.

1/2 cup sliced yellow bell pepper.

1/2 cup sliced red bell pepper.

50 gr fresh mangetout. (wash and drain it with a paper towel).

100 gr button mushroom.( sliced to your liking).

1 piece of yellow onion. (sliced to your liking).

1 stalk of celery. (sliced to your liking).

1 tablespoon olive oil.

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Enough water to cook the pasta

Method:

Cook the pasta according to package instructions. set aside.

In a wok or big frying pan, heat up the olive oil and cook the onions until fragrant, add in those peppers, mushroom and the mangetout. Stir it occasionally until those vegetables are fully cooked.

Each to their own, but I personally like my vegetables not overcooked, I like them still a little bit crunchy when I bite into them.

When the vegetables are cooked, add in the pasta, and stir it well. Season it with salt and pepper and serve it warm. You can add fresh basil or parsley if you like. Also you can use any other vegetables that are available in your local area.