Little Joy Factory

My mother always says eat with the seasons. Not only we will get the most nutritional value of the vegetables and fruits, they are at their peak of flavor. Though most foods here are imported, it's still healthy to eat when they are in season. At least we know they are the fresh new growth of the season.

Bakerzin's lovely fruit flans are all almond cream based, which reminds me of a galette baked by my French colleague last Easter. She also used almond cream or frangipane as the filling, which tastes wonderful!  I learned that frangipane is one of France's many traditional foods, which is normally made of butter, sugar, eggs, and ground almonds. My initial intention was to make a galette. Bakerzin's attractive dessert menu makes me finally decide to bake this Apricot and Almond Flan.

My daughter teased that my oven would be very "sad" after I bought Philips Airfryer. Well,  I may have spent more time on Airfryer to explore its functions, it does not mean Airfryer can totally replace traditional oven. They are both my kitchen helpers. Oven arrived much early, and it's very reliable, just like my old friend.  Airfryer is like a new friend, need to spend more time together so that our "friendship" can go a long way.  "Make new friends and keep the old, one is silver and the other gold."  This old saying on friendship also applies here in my kitchen. While continue baking with my oven,  I have been trying new recipes on my Airfryer lately. I just shared an amazing and simple recipe on Grilled Salmon with Airfryer , and now I am here to tell you one more recipe I enjoyed very much with Airfryer. Grilled corn!

My whole family love salmon, especially grilled salmon. There are many ways of marinating salmon, and my family's favorite marinade is lemon, soy sauce and brown sugar. 

My taste buds are fond of fried foods.  The pleasure of eating deep-fried food is irresistible to me. I like the tender interior and crisp exterior, which remains crisp even as the food soaks up the tangy sauce. However, for my family's health, I seldom deep fry food at home. I usually replace deep frying with baking, e.g, baked potato sticks , chicken wings and pork ribs .  Baked food tastes good, but sometimes, deep-fried food still tastes better. To satisfy our craving for deep-fried food,  we bought a Philips Airfryer recently. Now I can air fry! We have air-fried some "forbidden" snacks at home, and this buttermilk fried chicken is one of the top recipes we have tried so far.

Do you feel that time is flying every day? Can't believe it's end of July already. I asked my younger daughter the same question the other day, she told me she felt time has been very slow!  Well, I understand how she feels. She can't wait to go for an overseas cultural immersion trip organized by her school in November.

There are sometimes when I just don't know what to do with vegetables.  I usually stir-fry them with meat. However,  my daughters are getting more and more fussy nowadays.  One just takes Chinese cabbage, and the other just takes broccoli.  What about those vegies in my fridge?  That's when I turn to baked frittata as I can add whatever vegetables I have on hand. Baked vegetable frittata can be served as a vegetarian main course or a tasty side. It's easy to make and delicious.  In this recipe, I used two long leeks, 1 can of button mushrooms, and 1 pack fresh oyster mushroom.  My daughters loved it and asked for seconds!