Fettuccine in White Sauce with Seafood

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Occasionally my kids will order pasta in white sauce while dinning out. Since I have some heavy cream to clear, I choose to try cooking it at home. After searching from internet I find that it is not hard at all to prepare. Ingredients are simple because mainly cheeses and heavy cream. I didn't follow the type of cheeses recipe called. I just use whatever cheeses from my fridge. I also reduce the quantity of cheese too as I feel that 'too heavy and too cheesy'. 

Yes I manage to meet my kids craving but not my hubby and myself. We found that the sauce is 'heavy' with the used of heavy cream and cheeses although already reduce the amount. Can't take much at one go :P If happen to choose I will prefer pasta sauce with tomato base. 

Fettuccine in white sauce with seafood

Ingredients:
~ White sauce
1 tablespoon butter
250g heavy cream
60g evaporated milk

12g grated parmesan cheese
50g grated cheddar cheese
50g grated mozzarella cheese 
1 pinch ground nutmeg
1 egg yolk
Salt and pepper to taste

~Seafood and vegetables
(A)
6 medium size prawns (Remove shell with only tail attach. Remove vein)
About 150g fish fillet

(B) Coating for seafood 
50g corn flour
50g rice flour
1 tablespoon dried oregano 
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
*mix together and set aside

(C)

2 king oyster mushroom (杏鲍菇）;cut into strips
Some sweet peas (blanch in hot water)
350g fettuccine (or any pasta of your choice)

Methods:
~Seafood
1. Coat prawns and fillets with flour mixture and set aside.

2. Heat up wok. Without any oil arrange mushroom inside wok. Cook till turn lightly brown. Take out and set aside.

3. Add oil into hot wok. Lower heat to medium-low, arrange coated prawns and cook till done. Do the same for the fish fillets. Dish out and set aside.

~White sauce
1. Add butter in a wok/saucepan and cook over medium heat. Add heavy cream, evaporated milk and stir constantly. 

2. Follow by cheeses and stir until melted. When completely melted, add nutmeg, egg yolk. Stir constantly and simmer for about 3-5 minutes over medium to low heat. Add salt and pepper to taste.

3. Cook pasta according instructions on the package. Drain and add into white sauce. Toss well to coat.

4. Plate out the tossed pasta together with seafood, sweet peas and browned mushroom. Serve immediately.

Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce

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Tomatoes make me think of pasta sauce. My kids like spaghetti with tomato base sauce. I used to cook with fresh tomatoes but not today. After reading The Pioneer Woman Tomato Cream Sauce I want to give it a try. I used canned tomato purée. It is cheap, economy and easy available at any grocery stores. This canned tomato is packed with flavour. However it is extremely sour to Asian taste (I believe :P). Therefore I added water/stock (liquid) to thinner out the sourness. 

For healthy choice (and also easy available) I replace heavy cream with evaporated milk. The result is great and my kids love it! This great cream tomato sauce will be one of my family favourite pasta meals from now on :) 

Reference from The Pioneer Woman

Pasta Tomato Cream Sauce
Ingredients:
(A)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 whole medium onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (220g) tomato purée (I used DuChef brand)
1 cup water (or stock)
½ cube chicken stock (Knorr brand)
*Omit if using stock. 
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons sugar (more to taste)

(B)
½ cup evaporated milk
1 tablespoon dried oregano
10g parmesan cheese

400g spaghetti 
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Methods:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, reserve ½ cup of pasta water.

2. Heat butter and oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté for a minute or so. Pour in tomato purée and add water, stock cube, salt, pepper, and sugar to taste. Stir and cook over low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Remove from heat and stir in milk, oregano and cheese. Check seasonings. 

4. Stir in pasta and serve immediately. (Thin with pasta water if needed.)

I am submitting this post to Little Thumbs Up, hosted by Mui Mui@My Little Favourite DIY & Zoe@Bake for Happy Kids.

Homemade Chewy Udon

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If you used to make noodles with pasta maker, why not try this chewy udon? The process are almost the same (do refer to homemade wanton wrapper) as ordinary noodles.
 
I understand in traditional way the dough is kneaded with feet. The rough dough is placed inside ziplock bag then on the floor. Standing on the dough and knead it with body weight. The reason why is the dough is too stiff to knead properly by hand. Why I still choose to work with pasta maker? First the amount I make is not much. Second I feel very odd of working the dough with feet :D  

fresh udon in miso soup ^^

Since the homemade udon is best to finish at the same day I half the recipe. In order to get chewy and slurpable udon I follow proportion of bread flour and tapioca flour recommended by SheSimmers. Which ratio of roughly 90% bread flour and 10% tapioca flour. For the liquid I used about half amount of the dry ingredients. For example all my flour weight 330g so I start with 165ml water. Adding further 10-30ml slowly as I gather the flour into ball. Make sure the dough is not too dry or too wet. Both conditions will cause difficulty when handling with pasta maker.
 

My kids like it and request to make again ^^

Let's see how I make my fresh homemade chewy udon.

Adapted and slightly modified from SheSimmers

Ingredients:
300g bread flour
30g tapioca flour
1 tsp salt 
180-200ml warm water(about 50C)

Methods:

1. Add in bread and tapioca flour in a mixing bowl. Stir to combine. Dissolve salt in the warm water. Pour into the flour mixture (reserve about 20ml, use it only if too dry). Mix by running a fork around the flour. Try to combine every bit of liquid with the flour.

2. Once all combine get in your hand and gather the lumps together become dough. Slightly knead the dough. The dough might seem a bit dry and hard to get smooth. Don't worry as it meant to be. So it won't stick on pasta maker. The texture will smooth after the folding and rolling process. 

3. Divide into manageable portions (about 5 portions, 100g each). Slightly knead by hand for few times (I find that this can reduce the numbers of rolling times to get smooth pasta).   

4. Set the roller to the thickest setting (with lowest number). Roll the dough over the pasta maker. Fold and roll over again. Repeat till smooth and even surface has achieved. Keep aside and is ready for next step. Repeat the same for the rest portions.
 

5. Adjust the pasta maker to smaller feed. Roll in the smooth pasta. Keep reducing the thickness of the feeder until get your desire thickness udon. Repeat the same for the rest.
 

6. Apply tapioca flour on the sheet. Keep separately in a pan. Cover and leave to rest for 3-6 hours.

7. Once the dough has rested, fold it over itself to form smaller rectangle (dust flour if needed). On a floured cutting board, with a very sharp knife, cut the folded dough into 1/8-inch strips. Repeat the same for the rest of the sheet.

8. The fresh noodles should be cooked right away to ensure the best texture. Bring a pot of water to rapid boil. Add in the udon and lower the heat to boil gently (make sure use more water as too little water will cause udon become gummy and doughy). After about 3 minutes, the udon will float to the top; let it boil for another 2-3 minutes and take them off the heat. Immediately drain off the cooking water and rinse with cold water. The udon are now ready to be used in your recipe.

I'm submitting this post to Muhibbah Malaysian Monday hosted by Shannon from Just As Delish

Gnocchi (sweet potato dumpling)

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According to Wikipedia gnocchi are various thick, soft dumplings. They may be made from semolina, ordinary wheat flour, potato, bread crumbs, or similar ingredients. Classic accompaniments of gnocchi include tomato sauces, pesto, and melted butter (sometimes fried butter) with cheese.

Gnocchi is very simple to make at home. They are healthy and delicious when serve with your favourite sauces. I used to make my gnocchi with sweet potatoes. It is cheaper and sweeter compare to potatoes. Of course you can replace with potatoes.