Crispy & Cheesy Broccoli & Cauliflower

This is a great and delicious way to have broccoli and cauliflower, two vegetables that are often avoided, especially by the kids. The thinly sliced florets become brown and crispy on the edges, and the parmesan flavoured breadcrumbs add an extra crunch.

Baked Cheesy Rigatoni with Spicy Sausage

This is like Mac & Cheese but only better. The rigatoni pasta is much bigger than macaroni, and holds more of the cheesy sauce, and the spicy sausage adds a flavour contrast to an otherwise rich dish. It's baked with flavoured breadcrumbs which makes the top crispy. Mmmmm!

Whole Wheat Skillet Buns with Caramelized Onion & Bacon Cheese Dip

This is a visually arresting, gooey, warm appetiser, and your guests will be so impressed when they see it. I saw this a few weeks ago from Seasons & Suppers website, and this dish is adapted from their Warm Skillet Bread and Artichoke Spinach Bread Recipe.  I've made my own variations by making the buns from a combination of whole wheat and bread flour (to make it healthier), and I've made the dip with cheese, caramelised onion and bacon.  If you prefer the vegetarian version, just omit the bacon.

This recipe also contains some tips for bread making which I learned from local bread making classes in Singapore, as well as from Le Cordon Bleu Boulangerie class.

Ham, Cheese & Herb Puff Pastry Pinwheels

Ham, Cheese & Herb Puff Pastry Pinwheels, a perfect appetiser for early birds.

Whenever you host a party at home, there's always the possibility of people arriving late. What can you serve to the early birds without stuffing them too much and depriving them of the delicious meal ahead?

I recently made this appetiser and it was a big hit, and they're very easy to make as well with store bought puff pastry. The small, light, individual bite sized servings allow your guest to eat as little or as much as they want to, while waiting for the other guests. But they're so good that one of my guests last Christmas ate 8 of them in one sitting!

Four Cheese Chive Souffle

This is a cheesy, savoury soufflé that you can serve as an appetiser. We had this during New Year's Eve dinner at home.  The soufflé is light and airy and can be an impressive start for a gourmet meal, but it's very easy to make. I asked my teenaged son to help me with this (well, he practically did almost everything...but he just didn't know it!)

Baked Mushroom Crisp

This mushroom dish is so easy to make that my teenaged son makes it by himself. It's actually adapted from Jamie Oliver's Italian Style Baked Cheesy Mushrooms but we modified it by using Asian mushrooms, and putting the bread layer on top of, instead of under the mushrooms. When we tried putting the bread underneath the mushrooms, they turned mushy after baking. :(  Thus, in this dish, my son opted to put the bread and cheese on TOP of the mushrooms instead, making a crispier texture which is much better than Jamie's version.