Light Meals and Snacks

Deluxe French Toast

You Need:

8 slices thick-cut, white bread
4 slices ham
8 slices cheddar cheese
½ cup milk
3 eggs
1 tbs sugar
2 tbs butter
A sprinkle of icing sugar

To do:

Place the ham and two slices of bread. Whisk the eggs, milk, and sugar in a shallow bowl. Dip the sandwiches in the egg mixture. Allow to stand for about 30 seconds on each side before turning them over with a flat spatula. Melt the butter over medium heat and cook the sandwiches for about 3 minutes on each side until the cheese melts and the bread is golden brown. Sprinkle lightly with icing sugar and serve warm.

Pumpkin Pudding

You Need:

500g pumpkin, skinned and deseeded
700ml water
50g dried prawns, fried crisp
30g dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked and chopped
50g fried shallots
250g rice flour
1¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
2 sprigs of spring onion, chopped
2 red chillies, chopped

To do:

Boil or steam the pumpkin until cooked, then puree in a food processor. Mix in the water, rice flour, salt and pepper and transfer to a pot. Over a low fire, heat and stir the mixture until it starts to thicken. Stir in three-quarters of the fried shallots and all the fried mushrooms and dried prawns. Pour into a well-oiled loaf tin and steam over a high heat for 75 minutes until set. Top with the remaining shallots, spring onion and chilli. Slice and serve warm.

Steamed Egg Bread

You Need:

4 large eggs
250g sugar
250g flour
100ml 7-up

To do:

Beat the eggs and sugar on high speed until the mixture looks creamy. Slowly stir in the flour, 7-up and vanilla essence. Pour into a lined cake pan and steam on high heat for about 1 hour until the bread rises and feels firm to the touch. To test if the bread is done, insert a wooden skewer into the centre. If it comes out clean, remove from the steamer. Serve warm or cold, by itself, or toasted and spread with butter.

Best Banana Bread

You Need:

1 cup sugar
125g butter
2 big ripe bananas, meshed
2 large eggs, beaten
½ tbs fresh lemon juice
1 tsp grated orange rind
1½ cups plain flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt

To do:

Preheat the oven to 150 Degree Celsius and butter a 9-inch loaf pan. Cream the sugar and butter until light and creamy. Add the bananas, eggs, lemon juice and orange rind. Pour the dry ingredients into the mixture and pour the batter into the loaf pan. Cool for 30 minutes before removing from pan. Serve warm or cold.

Honey Mustard Wings

You Need:

1kg chicken wings
4 tbs light soya sauce
4 tbs Dijon mustard
2 tbs liquid honey
black pepper to taste
1 tbs oil for basting

To do:

Coat wings with soya sauce, mustard and honey. Leave for at least 30 minutes. Preheat oven or grill to 180^oC. Brush wings with a little oil and grill for 30 minutes until nicely browned. Turn once or twice during grilling, basting each time.

Guinness Stout Fruit Cake

You Need:

250g butter
2 cups prunes
3 cups raisins
1 cup glace cherries
1 can Guinness Stout (300ml)
2 2/3 cups plain flour
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
1 ¼ cup brown sugar
2 eggs

To do:

Chop half the raisins and all prunes in a food processor and marinate with 250ml of stout. Cream butter and sugar and add eggs, flour, baking powder, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Stir in cherries and remaining raisins.

Grease a 9 x 4-inch loaf pan and pour in batter. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 Degree Celsius for about 3 hours. Cracks will appear at the top of the cake.

Remove from oven and pour the remaining stout on the cake. Let stand for 30 minutes before storing in the fridge overnight.

Pita Pockets

You Need:

Pita bread
Roast pepper chicken
Sliced mango
Lettuce
Brie Cheese
Sweet bell peppers
Olive oil

To do:

Drizzle a little olive oil over the sliced peppers and place in a hot oven to roast. The peppers are done when they turn soft. Stuff the pita pockets with lettuce. Combine chicken with mango and brie cheese with peppers for two different kinds of pita pocket meals.

Portobello Mushroom Sandwich

You Need:

4 slices of thick-cut wholewheat bread
2 portobello mushrooms, stems removed
4 tbs mayonnaise
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbs olive oil
1 clove of garlic
1 beef tomato, sliced
4 butterhead lettuce leaves
salt and pepper to taste

To do:

Brush oil over top and bottom of mushrooms and grill in a toaster oven for 5mins until tender. Season with salt and pepper. Toast bread until lightly browned and rub one side of bread with garlic clove. In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise and lemon juice. Spread mayonnaise mixture over the four toasted bread slices. Arrange lettuce leaves on top of two bread slices, followed by mushrooms and tomato. Cover with remaining pieces of toast. Cut sandwiches in half.

Chicken Rice Cake

You Need:

1 cup of short grain rice
3 cups of water
1 chicken cube
150g of diced chicken fillet
½ tsp light soy sauce
¼ tsp white pepper
¼ tsp seasame oil
5 slices of ginger
Lettuce or sliced cucumber

To do:

Cook the short grain rice in the water with the chicken cube until the water evaporates and the rice is soft and sticky.

Marinate the diced chicken with the soya sauce and pepper. Stir fry the chicken with the ginger until cooked. While it is warm, stir in the sesame oil.

Press half the rice into a small flan dish. Layer with the lettuce or cucumber and then add a layer of sesame chicken. Press the rest of rice on top. To serve, cut into bite-sized squares. This new take on the traditional chicken rice ball can be eaten warm or cold.

Eggy Veggy Dip

You Need:

Raw vegetables, julienned
2 hardboiled eggs
5 tbs mayonnaise
Juice of one small lime
1 tsp curry powder
Chopped spring onion

To do:

Place the eggs, mayonnaise, lime juice and curry powder into a food processor and whiz until the eggs are finely chopped. Transfer to a container and top with the spring onion. Eat with raw vegetables.