#32 - Tomatoes Bruschetta

Hubby is so in love with this morning's breakfast that he gorge down one slice of the Tomatoes Bruschetta the very minute he stepped out of bed. He gave me a thumb up for this! 

This is a very simple recipe and require very few ingredients which you probably already have in your kitchen pantry. Typically, tomatoes bruschetta makes an ideal appetiser but I really like to serve this as an breakfast item due to the refreshing taste of tomatoes and herbs. Go, give it a try!

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Recipe: Adapted and modified from here

Servings
2 person

Ingredients

20-25 Cherry Tomatoes (or 2 medium tomatoes), diced
1 tbsp Red Onion, finely minced
1 tbsp Garlic, minced
2 tbsp Mixed Herbs (include Basil, Thyme, Rosemary, Oregano, Fennel)
2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper, to taste
Baguette, sliced at an angle about 1.5cm thick
2 tsp Butter

Directions

1. In a bowl, combine diced tomatoes cubes, onion, garlic and mixed herbs. Add in olive oil and mix well.

2. Season with salt & pepper if necessary. Set aside and allows mixture to sit for at least 5-10 minutes while preparing bread.

3. Spread a thin layer of butter on the sliced baguette and toast it in the oven/ air fryer at 160C for 3 minutes.

3. Remove bread, transfer to serving plate. Top each slice of bread with the tomatoes mixture before serving. 

#31 - Cheesy Garlic & Brown Sugar Pork Chops

Pork chop has never been an item which I will order for at any restaurant or eatery. Reason being, it sounds like a pretty plain and boring dish to me. I would rather go for a healthy yet yummy baked salmon, or even a hearty portion of lamb chop instead.

However, when I came across this recipe on Cheesy Garlic & Brown Sugar Pork Chops, my eyes lit up! The word CHEESY definitely caught my attention. I just have to give this recipe a try! 

Anyway, I would also like to share on this quick method of defrosting your meat. It work perfectly well for my pork chops. It took me 10 minutes and I was really pleased. Click here for details and give it a try.

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Recipe: Adapted and modified from here

Ingredients

Dry Rub Mixture

1 tbsp Mixed Herbs (include Basil, Thyme, Rosemary, Oregano, Fennel)

2 tbsp Garlic, minced

3 tbsp Brown Sugar

1 tsp Paprika

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Pepper

4 Pork Chops

30 grams Butter, melted
1 Cup Shredded Cheese

1 tsp Parsley

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Line baking pan with baking paper.

2. For dry rub mixture, combine mixed herbs, minced garlic, brown sugar, paprika, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Mix well. 

3. Rub both sides of pork chops with dry rub mixture. 

4. Transfer pork chops on to baking pan.

5. Drizzle melted butter over the pork chops and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

6. Remove from oven. Sprinkle cheese over the top of the pork chops. Bake for another 5 minutes until cheese has melted.

7. Sprinkle the top with parsley before serving. Enjoy. 

#30 - Banana Loaf with Streusel Topping

I have always love baking with different types of fruits and one of my favourite has got to be bananas! The sweetness of this fruit is good for cake, muffins, bread and it even goes well with peanut butter in a sandwich. My mum has always been a great lover of banana bread and since young, I have kind of pick up on this love of hers and there is no way I can resist a soft and fragrant piece of banana cake/bread. 

In my kitchen, I always seems to have a couple of overripe bananas on the counter top every now and then and it's strange how excited I get when I see them turning dark and black. And why is that so, you asked? Simply because the darker they get, the sweeter they are and that make them so PERFECT for baking! 

For this particular recipe of Banana Loaf with Streusel Topping I am sharing, you got to love the topping as well! Trust me on that. The topping is crumbly and sweet and it goes perfectly well with the soft banana bread. Not to mention, I simply adore the combination of brown sugar with butter! On the other hand, if you are not such a huge fan of Streusel Topping, you may replace it with a cream cheese frosting and it will taste just as good! 

The loaf itself is loaded with banana and that definitely helps to ensure that the loaf remains moist and rich! 

I just love it when my kitchen is filled with the smell of freshly baked Banana Bread. Don't you?

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Ingredients

2 cups All Purpose Flour

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/4 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

1 1/2 cups Mashed Banana (about 3 medium size bananas)

2 Eggs

3/4 cup Fine Sugar

1/2 cup (113.5g) Butter, room temperature

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Streusel Topping

1/4 cup Brown Sugar

3 tbsp All Purpose Flour

2 tbsp (28.4g) Butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and line loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray and baking paper. Set aside for later use. 

2. To prepare the streusel topping, combine the brown sugar and flour in a small bowl. Using a pastry blender or a fork, cut in the cold butter until coarse crumbs are obtained. Refrigerate the streusel topping until it is ready to use.

3. Sieve the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon) together and set aside. 

4. In a mixing bowl, mashed the bananas using a fork until you get a thick mash of banana. 

5. To the mashed banana, add in the eggs, sugar, butter and vanilla extract. Whisk these ingredients together using a whisk until they are well combined and a thick mixture is obtained. 

6. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients in Step (2) and add in the wet ingredient in Step (4). Mix well using a whisk / spatula. Make sure that the combined mixture is well-mixed, with no trace of flour.

7. Pour the creamy batter into the loaf pan. Using a butter knife, run the knife through the batter a few times so as to remove any air bubbles.

8. Remove streusel topping from refrigerator and sprinkle them on the top of the batter evenly.

9. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until toothpick when inserted comes out clean.