From My Lemony Kitchen ....

Watermelon, Strawberries and Rose Cream

2013-05-10T12:30:00.000+08:00

Mak (Mom in English) used to say to me (especially when I drove her up the wall... )

"One day... you'll know and will go through what I am going through, when you have your own family and kids..."

It was tough for my mom, during those years, to bring up 6 kids with my dad's meagre salary. But never a day, would go by without food on the table. It may be simple food, with rice as our everyday staple, and fish was often on the menu (cheaper source of protein), enough to fill up our tummy.

My mom will be 75 this year....
Time sure flies

It seems like it was only yesterday that I was tagging along, holding on tight onto my mom's hand as we crossed the busy road, to go to "Orchid" Hair Salon, to have her jet black hair permed, the smell of chemical nearly choked me to death.
Looking at her now, only wispy thin of white hair left on her head.
Back then ...she was strong and able to chase me up the stairs when I did something wrong.... and now she needs a strong arm as support when she walked the distance....

My mom has seen many sunrises and sunsets in her life ...
She misses my dad (dad passed away 3 years ago and I miss him too), and in her own words " I am just waiting for my turn..."

Mak,
I thank you for all the things you taught me.
I apologise for the heartaches I caused you in the past.
I will forever hold you in my heart and love you for always....

"Yes mak... now I know how it feels like to be in your shoe, to be a MOM"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Watermelon, Strawberries and Rose Cream

Just a quick note on this delicious dessert....
I heard this 'much raved about' dessert from my masseuse/friend.

And of course my first attempt was a total disaster... the dacquoise was too sweet with slight chewy texture.
Besides the disappointment, on the whole... it was really really good.... its the best dessert I have had so far.

Not wanting to face another dacquoise failure... I decided to simplify and used crushed saviordi finger biscuits.
Less stress and less sweet...makes a perfect dessert for our mom on Mothers' Day this Sunday.

To my Mak, sisters, sisters-in law, all Mothers, mothers to-be...
Have a wonderful 'Mothers Day'

Watermelon, Strawberries and Rose-Scented Cream (serve 4)

adapted with changes ~ Gourmet Traveller
click here to print recipe

Ingredients...

4 to 6 thin slices of seedless watermelon

2 tablespoon of rosewater

2 tablespoon almond meal (more if desired)

4-6 strawberries - washed, hulled and cut into quarters

4-6 seedless red grapes - halved

1 tablespoon pistachio - rough;y chopped

optional - dried rose buds

10-12 saviordi fingers - coarsely crushed (may require more if glasses used are bigger than pictured above)

Rose-scented cream

300 ml thickened cream

30 g caster sugar

2 tablespoon rosewater

Preparation stage...

Whisk cream with sugar until soft peak.
Add rose water gradually and whisk until stiff peak form.
Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Use a round cookie cutter that could fit snugly into a glass, and cut 8 thin watermelon discs.
Sprinkle rosewater and leave aside for 30 minutes.
Pat dry.

Ready in a jiffy...

Prepare 4 glasses.
Divide half of the crushed saviordi biscuits into 4 glasses.
Top with rose-scented cream.
Sprinkle almond meal.
Top with 1 watermelon disc.
Divide 1/3 of rose-scented cream into 4 glasses.
Add crushed biscuits, then watermelon, and finish off with a layer of rose-scented cream.
Refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
Sprinkle crushed pistachios, decorate with strawberries, grapes before serving.

Morning by the Lake...

2013-05-03T12:30:00.000+08:00

Hi all,

I am still here... alive and kicking, and will be back soon with food glorious food....

For the time being... enjoy some of the photos I took on my day off to Lake Joondalup... (the rest are still in RAW and will be processed soon-ish...)

And to all Malaysians...

Best of Luck in the 5 th May 2013 Election Day

Taking a short Break....

2013-04-19T12:30:00.000+08:00

Taking a breather...

to clear my head...

to scream with the pounding waves...

to fly with the albatross...

to run with the wind...

to think ...

to strategise...

to energise...

... will be back soon...

Pecan Pie Cake

2013-04-12T14:00:00.000+08:00

February 2013

Dear Son,

I know this is a bit late to appear on FMLK, but…

On you turning 18, I wanted to have that “Mom-Son”sit down and talk, where I do all the talking and you do the listening.
I know that was not going to happen, as you will be there in person and you will be thinking of your next move in your DotA... not cool

Perhaps 20 years from now, you will be reflecting on what I am about to tell you… and there is zero chance that you might remember, so I ‘penned’ whatever I wanted to say here…. you can read and re-read, whenever you feel like it (if you ever read this )

Dear Son,
You just turned 18… the age where your dad and I ceased to exist in our common law. No one requires ‘Mom or Dad’ signatures on any documents or reports anymore. No banks, Tax office, University etc will call us, write to us or talk to us. To them, we are HISTORY, someone from your past and not required in the present nor future…
Oh I feel sad … so sad

I have been looking and searching for the right words to say, waiting for the right moment… composing my letter to you in my head… going over and over again of the things I wanted to tell you, share with you, and prepare you for your journey that will lead you to the one way road named ‘ADULTHOOD’.

Well….it’s time to let go……
before we could totally let you run your life

Remember :-
Be you ~ as everyone else is taken
Your dad and I, hope that in the past 18 years, we have managed to instill good values in you, in terms of respect, love, honesty, integrity to build a solid foundation for your future as well as uphold our belief in the power of ONE.

It’s a jungle out there.
The world around you will try to dictate how you should be, what to be so that you are part of them.
You don’t have to dance to their tunes.
Whenever you are in that ‘sticky’ situation, in dilemma, just evaluate each and every one of your strong set of core values without compromising any. Be strong and stand firm, and exercise what you believed in. Don’t worry if they do not accept you for who you are, consider it as their lost for not wanting to know a good and great person that you are.

Don’t lose sight of your goal in life.
Chase your dream and make it happen.
Don’t be afraid …you may stumble and fall, remember, with every grazed knees, every cut, every pain… ‘they’ will make you a better stronger person.
“No pain No gain”…right?

Ticking Clock…
We may not have much time together.With you, busy with your daily life... while your dad and I, busy counting the thinning hair or the very few dark brown hairs on our heads (if any left at all… ).
Let’s cherish and treasure every moment we have together.

What future holds…
The bad ...
We will no longer be your ATM nor your mobile bank, so you have to work hard to earn your living…

The good news is...
You get to decide whether to drive your metallic blue AUDI TT or get a driver to drive you and 40 or more other passengers…

The end...
I think I have said enough for now… I'll save some for your 21^st….
We love you till our last breath...

Lots of Love
Mom and Dad

psst: Dad still owe you a birthday cake as he was supposed to bake you this.. but he conned me into baking on the pretext that he was doing the "Supervising"...duh!!!

Pecan Pie Cake

adapted with changes from Southern living

Click here to print

2 cups of plain flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

1 1/2 cup caster sugar

5 large eggs separated

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup light corn syrup

3 cups pecan - roasted and chopped

Buttermilk

1 cup full cream milk

1 tablespoon lemon juice

- Mix the milk and lemon juice and leave it aside for 10 minutes

Pecan Pie Filling

1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

3/4 cup light corn syrup

1/3 cup corn flour

4 egg yolk

1 cup milk

1/2 cream

1/8 salt

3 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Decoration:

Dark chocolate shavings

Saviordi finger biscuits

Lets do the Pecan Pie filling first...

Whisk sugar, light corn syrup, corn flour, egg yolks, milk and cream until smooth.
Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat.
Keep on whisking until the sauce thickens. remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla extract.
Place a piece of glad wrap on the surface of the pie filling (to avoid skin from forming)
Refrigerate for 4 hours

Then we Bake the cakes...

Pre heat the oven to 180C
Line 3 baking pans (9 inch diameter) with greaseproof paper.
Sprinkle about 2 cups of chopped pecan nuts on the base.
Cream the butter and shortening until well mixed.
Add in caster sugar on medium speed until well combined and creamy.
Add one egg yolk at a time, continue until mixing after each addition.
Add in vanilla.
Add flour, baking soda, and buttermilk alternatively, beginning with flour and ending with flour
Mix at low speed until well mix
Add 1 cup of chopped pecan into the batter.
Beat egg white to a stiff peak.
Fold a third at a time into the batter. Gently mix egg white and batter.
Pour all the batter approximate and equally to the 3 prepared cake pans.
Bake for 25 minutes or until skewer comes out clean.
Leave the cakes in the pan for 5 minutes before inverting onto a cooling rack lined with greaseproof paper.
Cool completely.

Last step : we assemble...

Place the cake pecan side up.
Spread half of the pie filling.
Place the second cake (pecan side up) on top of the first cake.
Spread the filling and place the last cake on top.
Spread the filling around the side of the cake.
Cut the finger biscuits slightly higher than the height of the whole cake.
Arrange around and placed a ribbon to secure.
Decorate with shaved dark chocolates.

Wonton Noodles

2013-04-05T12:30:00.000+08:00

It was early February... the weather was hot and humid.
It was one of those typical 'very' hot summer days in Perth. The summer days where I feel like doing nothing...

"what shall we have this weekend?" I popped my usual question to H.
I wasn't actually 'asking'... it was an indirect request for him to take over 'the stove' for the weekend...
"I dont know..." would be his respond every time...
...for some inspirations ~ we'd take out a stack of cookbooks off the shelf, and started to browse...going ~

"This looks good..."

"Oh! this looks yummy...."

"Its been a while since we ate this..."

So that particular early February weekend, we had a craving for?....

wonton noodles.

Though it was a lengthy and tedious preparation...in Chinese words ~ 'mah fan' or Malay word ~ 'renyah'...with chicken pieces require overnight preparation (marinate)... prepare, wrap and deep fried wontons... then on to preparing noodles.
But the end results was ... a plate (or 2...ooops) of delicious, satisfying meal.

Totally on different note... yeah I was told that I like to digress and go off topic altogether...hehehe... my blog , my say

Sharing a piece of good news.... *drum roll*

I am at no 16 in Babble's Top 100 Food Mom Blogs of 2013! (... from no 68 last year)

Woohoo....

click on the logo to view the full list

I thank you for your support towards FMLK: reading my rantings and taking time to type your words of wisdom in my comment box below.

The bouquet of flowers (above) is for you...you...and you... XX00XX

THANK YOU

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wonton Noodles

click here to print recipe

150 g fresh egg noodles

10 shallots - thinly sliced

5 tablespoon of canola oil

baby bok choy - blanched

Wonton Parcels

150g mince chicken

1/2 carrot - diced .
1 can of water chestnut (from Asian grocer or supermarket) -dice
2 pieces chinese mushroom -soak, and dice
soya sauce
white pepper
1/2 tablespoon corn flour and another 1 teaspoon to mix with water
a dash sesame oil
salt
oyster sauce
Wonton skin from Asian Grocer..

2 cups of cooking oil for deep frying
Extra : 1 tablespoon of corn flour mix with 50 ml water (to seal the edges)

sauce

1 tablespoon fried onion oil

1 tablespoon sesame oil

2 tablespoon sweet soy sauce (kicap manis)

1/2 tablespoon oyster sauce

dash of white pepper

Char Siew Chicken

500g boneless chicken thigh

5 tablespoon store bought char siew sauce

a dash of sesame oil

Preparation

Marinate the boneless chicken thigh in the refrigerator overnight. Note : Take out the marinated chicken an hour before cooking.
Preheat the oven to 200C.
Arrange the chicken in a single layer on the roasting grill, and roast for 30 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked.
Leave it to cool before slicing.
Saute the thinly sliced shallots until it turn golden/ brown.
Using a slotted spoon, dish the onion out onto an absorbent kitchen paper.
Reserve the oil.

wonton

Mix all the ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Fill up the wonton skin with 1 teaspoon of the mix. seal up the edges with the cornflour mixture (act as a sealer), and shape into an 'old Chinese gold coin'.
Heat up oil in wok.
Deep fry until golden brown.

Noodles

Place the noodle in the heatproof container.
Pour hot water for 30 seconds
Rinse with cold water to stop the noodle turning moosh.

Assemble:

Place the noodle in a bowl.
Add all the ingredients under 'Sauce' into the bowl. season with salt to taste (if desired)
Divide the noodles into plates.
Arrange the wonton and baby bok choy by the side.
Top with sliced char siew chicken strips.
Sprinkle the golden fried shallots.
Optional : Serve with sliced pickled chillies

Alton Brown's Soft Pretzel

2013-03-29T12:30:00.000+08:00

I love you the most ...Mom.

6 words that tugged my heart... those 6 words uttered, breathe the much needed O2 to fill up my lungs and my head.

Just when I thought I was way over, having to deal with tantrums, Terrible 2's, soldiered on ...ten plus few years ... another set of emotional roller coaster ride, looked me in the eye... TEENS (and their raging hormone).

I once asked D ; "Why is it teen (aka you) love to argue/ disagree and annoy their mom (aka me) so much?"
His quick answer.." ...because you are MOM!!!" awww... thank you very much, that supposed to make me feel better.
He didn't make any sense at that time ... I thought he was pulling my leg.
(phew... thank God that he was no longer in that 'Terrible Teen' phase)

Almost at that exact age of 15 going to 16 before reaching 17... E started to behave exactly like ...well, you know ... TEENS!!!
Challenging my every word, questioning my every action, pouting and long faces when I beg to differ...
If looks could kill, I'd be sliced and dead a million times over!!!
... "this can't be happening" again, I heard a faint voice inside my head...

I turned to Mr Google to shed some light on "Moms and Teens" relationship, specifically Mom and daughter.
Apparently Mom is the only person that teens will vent, take out their anger, frustration, because of her unconditional love towards her children. No matter what circumstances she might be in; be it stress, strain, she'll have her kids in her arms again in no time, once the emotional roller coaster ride has come to a complete cycle and stop.
Teens will not pull the same stunts with fathers, teachers or peers...worried of repercussion and shunned by their own social circles.

Make sense?

In a nut shell... We, the Moms, are their punching bag!!! ouch...

Rewind some 30 odd years ago....
I would not, dare not, repeat... dare not show any Teens Tantrums with my mom, she'd have me straightened up in no time with 'cane' in her hand / Malay word ~ rotan mari...

In her quiet...tired moment, resting in my arms... she whispered

"I love you the most ...Mom"...

tears in my eyes, ... I must have done something right after all...

Handling teens are like making these beautiful pretzel...

We measured, mixed basic ingredients; flour, yeast, water, knead and give it much love... hope that it will rise to the occasions... and when it does, it was worth every effort we put in... and if it doesn't... well, we just have to try and try again...and not to give up hope.

Have a lovely long weekend, Peeps.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alton Brown's Soft Pretzel

(click here for the link and here to print)

620 g Bread flour

375 ml plus 1 tablespoon lukewarm water

50-55 g butter (melted)

7 g yeast

2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1 egg for egg wash

10 liter water

2/3 cup baking soda

toppings

some shredded tasty cheese

jalapeno

salt

Mix lukewarm water, yeast and sugar.
Leave it aside for 5 minutes.
Yeast will react with sugar and will start to foam.
Mix flour, melted butter and salt into a mixing bowl.
Add the yeast mixture.
Using the dough hook and mix all the ingredients until well combined, smooth and doesn't stick to the side of the bowl.
Transfer the dough into a clean well oiled bowl (or transfer to a plate, clean the mixing bowl, oil it and put the dough back). cover with Glad wrap.
Leave it to rest and rise (at least double in size) for at least 50-55 minutes.
Pre heat the oven to 180C.
Bring 10 liter water mix with baking soda to boil.
Prepare the baking tray, either use the parchment paper or silpat.
Divide the dough into 8. Roll into a 0.5m long rope. and shape your pretzel.
Gently lower the pretzel into the boiling pot of baking soda water and leave it for 30 seconds.
Using a slotted spoon, remove the pretzel onto a lined baking tray.
Brush with egg wash, sprinkle either with salt, tasty cheese or tasty cheese with jalapeno slices.
Bake for 12-15 minutes until it is golden and cook through.
Transfer to cooling rack before serving.

Yam Abacus

2013-03-22T12:30:00.000+08:00

I shall wrap up my "What we Ate last sunday" post.... with Yam Abacus
Oh Yes...as you could see the photo above, its another 'brown' food again.
Well... soy sauce and oyster sauce are two most commonly used in almost every Chinese cooking. That, more or less 'dictate' the outlook of any dish.

Yam abacus is a traditional dish for one of the Chinese 'clans', namely Hakka Chinese.... and H is of Hakka heritage.

Will this brown dish be cooked again for 2014 Chinese New Year meal?
its a definitive "YES"... Everyone loved it.
And if you have 2 growing up, forever hungry teenagers (like mine), living in the house... double the portion... Don't be alarm if you hear some noises coming from the kitchen...its not a BIG FAT rat, but teens snacking on abacus in the wee hour ....

Have a good rest and a wonderful weekend...

Cheers,
Lisa H.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yam Abacus

to print.. click here

Preparing abacus

300 g frozen yam (from Asian grocer)

150 g tapioca flour

boiling hot water

2 tablespoon dried prawns - soaked

3 garlic - chopped

2 tablespoon golden fried shallots (store bought)

4 tablespoon canola oil

5 boneless chicken thigh cut into strips (or chicken mince)

3 chinese dried mushroom - soaked and thinly sliced

3 black fungus - soaked and thinly sliced

1 cube Maggi chicken stock

1 tablespoon dark soy sauce

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

salt to taste

Step 1 ~ Preparing the abacus

Cut the yam into chunks, steamed and mashed.
Add tapioca flour and mix.
Add hot water, a little at a time (be careful not to scald your precious hand!!!) into a pliable dough.
Shape into small ball (a size of a big marble), flattened slightly into a disc and make a dimple on each side.
Bring 2 liter of water to boil.
Drop the abacus into the rapidly boiling water.
The abacus will be cooked once it started to float.
Using a slotted spoon, dish the abacus out and transfer to a bowl of cold water.
Set aside then drain, when we are ready to cook.

Step 2 ~ Cooking

Heat up canola oil, saute garlic until fragrant.
Add in dried prawns and stir until aromatic.
Add chicken strips, mushrooms, black fungus.
Stir for another 5-8 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
Add in soy sauce, chicken cube stock, and all seasoning with about 1/2 cup of water.
Season with salt (if needed to).
Bring the mixture to boil.
Add in the drained abacus and stir until the mixture thicken.
Taste again before dishing out into a bowl.
Garnish with golden fried shallots.
Serve with steamed rice.

Sung Choy Bow

2013-03-15T12:30:00.000+08:00

“Great cooking is about being inspired by the simple things around you

~ fresh markets, various spices.

It doesn’t necessarily have to look fancy.”

– G. Garvin

Totally agree... 100 percent with Chef Garvin's quote, when it comes to Sung Choy Bow.
No exciting colours...as a matter of fact, Sung Choy Bow looks rather dull ...everything seems to be in the shades of orangey-brown...pardon me if I say ~ its in the 'Boring' food category. oopsie...

We had been having Sung Choy Bow every year on either Chinese New Year's eve or on the 15th day of CNY celebration... and every year I would snapped a photo or two... but it never made it here.....

why???

...however dull or boring it may be... as it turned out.... photographing Sung Choy Bow was a real 'pain'...mind boggling and challenging...
well, to me, it is!!. sorry peeps, hope you will not be discouraged by my *trying very hard* thus failed attempt, to make Sung Choy Bow a drool worthy dish...

What Sung Choy Bow lacks in look ... it made up in taste.
This is one food, that you MUST NOT feast with your eyes... It is the food that you MUST taste...in order to appreciate the light crisp bite.

I confess ... I could eat this all day ... all week ... ....I stop at all month...hehehe

Have a great weekend and take care Peeps

Lisa H._xox

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

note :
- if neither fresh or frozen yam bean can be found near you, then substitute with bamboo shoots.
- always taste before adding salt ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sung Choy Bow
click here to print

Lettuce

1 carrot julienne

2 packets of frozen yam bean (use fresh yam bean if you can find some) - julienne

300 g mince chicken

1 can of water chestnut (or 10 frozen / 10 fresh) - diced

5 chinese mushroom - thinly sliced

1 tablespoon corn flour mix with 1/4 cup of water

2 tablespoon of light soya sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
2 cloves of garlic- smashed

white pepper

a dash sesame oil

salt to taste

Mix mince chicken with water chestnuts, light soya sauce, oyster sauce.Set aside.
Saute the garlic with 2 tablespoon of cooking oil for 1 minute.
Add the mince chicken mix and give it a quick stir until the chicken is cook through.
Add carrots and chinese mushrooms.Stir for few minutes.
Add Yam bean.
Season with white pepper, salt.
Stir for 5 minutes then add cornflour mix.
Stir fry until the sauce thickens.
Set aside to cool.
Serve in lettuce cups.

Yee Sang / Raw Fish salad

2013-03-08T12:30:00.000+08:00

Chinese New Year celebration will be incomplete (in my opinion...) if Yee Sang is not served within the 15 days of welcoming the Lunar calender..

This dish symbolises Prosperity, Good Luck ,Great Health and all thing auspicious...Some say it reflects our life journey that is fill with bitter, sad, sweet, happy memories...added a with a bit of 'crunch' of excitement and a little bit of 'spice' to make us wiser.
You are most welcome to elaborate or share your knowledge... educate me on this point through my comment box below...

I have never had Yee Sang... let alone heard of this dish, until the late 80's when I started to work in Kuala Lumpur.
From then on... I looked forward to have either company sponsored lunches or having a business lunches with either client or contractor, in some fancy restaurants, within that 15 days of Lunar celebration, where most of restaurants would serve Yee Sang... (I was on meagre pay...sob sob.. and a cheapskate... hehehe , so always hoping for free Lunches...yippee..)
It was (and still is...) time to be merry, happy and feasting...

Everyone wants to eat their way to good luck and prosperity ... I can tell you ... the only party that is happy, every time his cash till went... 'kerching...kerching...' is the restaurant owner... Oh yes!!! Yee Sang came with a price tag... almost cut throat!!!

Unfortunately...for 'almost' the past 9 years since moving Down Under... I had not had any "restaurant version" of Yee Sang...

However, we chanced upon a box of pre-pack Yee Sang essentials minus the fish (of course) and with lots of what looked like preserved vegetables, in our local Asian grocer. It cost $10 a pop...

It was ok ~ taste wise but we weren't too keen on the colourful 'preserved' vegetables... so we thought that this year we will... at least... attempt to make our own...

... and it turned out to be fresh, crisp and scrumptious homemade Yee Sang

Definitely a keeper...

Have a lovely wonderful weekend...

signing off with Love...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yee Sang / Raw Fish salad

click here to print recipe

1 lebanese cucumber

1 carrot

1 small daikon

3 inch of young ginger

1/2 tablespoon black sesame

1/2 tablespoon white sesame

10 pcs wonton skins cut into strips

1/2 of pink grapefruit (flesh only)

100 g raw salmon - thinly sliced

100 g store bought seaweed

1 tablespoon of thick plum sauce (add more if desired for sweeter taste)

5 spice powder
ground white pepper

Preparing a day ahead -

Deep fry the wonton skins and leave it to cool. Keep it in air tight container.
Thinly sliced ginger and submerged in vinegar mix with 1 tablespoon of sugar. Set aside. Alternative- get the store bought pickled ginger.
Dry roast both sesame seeds. set aside to cool and keep in airtight container.

On the day:

Cut the carrot, daikon and cucumber into ribbon strips then cut into long strips.
Arrange vegetables, pink grapefruit segments and raw salmon in big salad bowl all .
Add in pickled ginger, deep fried wonton crunch then sprinkled sesame seeds.
Add a pinch or two 5 spice powder.
a pinch of ground white pepper
Lastly drizzle some thick plum sauce.
Get everyone to toss for good luck...and enjoy.

What We Ate last Sunday...

2013-03-01T12:30:00.000+08:00

psssttt: No Recipe this Week....just a Celebration Meal...

... I am sharing with you ~

'What we ate last Sunday'... the last day of Lunar New Year celebration... known as Chap Goh Mei.

We had Yee Sang (fresh fish Salad), Sung Choy Bow and Hakka traditional dish ~ Yam Abacus.

Recipes and photos will be posted here for the next 3 weeks... too many photos to cram into a single post, so we'll take it slow and have it in 3 parts... (... to get you to come back for more...hehehe)

...and secondly...

I would like to say my millions... zillions... 'Thank you's to my mom for the pain that she had to suffer and endured, mastered all the strength that she had in her, to push me out of her thus gave me life, 48 years ago.

Thank you, Mak...
for the 1st drop of milk that nourished me,
for taking care of me ~ from a helpless little baby till I am a Mom myself,
for being my numero Uno teacher ~ taught me life skills, and
for being my Mom....

love you loads, Mak.

Lisa H._xox

Nam Yee Fried Drummettes and Wings

2013-02-22T12:30:00.000+08:00

Another one of my 'Deep Frying' frenzies...(made this last month...phew)

...and these gorgeous bites has long settled and landed happily in my tummy and now its showing on my tummy and butt.

Putting on kilos is so easy... but to shed is so HARD!!!! especially after I hit the big FOUR ZERO years ago...*sigh* ... having low metabolism plus I noticed that it gets slower with age... ... makes everything doubly hard for me to lose that unwanted kilos...
So yeah... am avoiding deep fried food for now ...

**Care to share with me your secret?? on how you maintain or lose the unwanted kilos and to boost metabolism???**

Lisa H._xox

I have been invited to submit this post to Aspiring Bakers #28: Chicken Feast (February 2013) hosted by Small Small Baker... thank you for the invite :D

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Recipe

click here to print

1 kg chicken wings (cut into drummettes and wings)

1/2 teaspoon chopped garlic

1 egg

2 pieces red bean curd

1/4 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon plain flour

1 tablespoon corn flour

1 tablespoon water

2 cups of cooking oil for deep frying

Mix all the ingredients with chicken pieces.
Marinate overnight in the refrigerator.
Take out the marinated chicken pieces at least 30 minutes before frying.
Heat up oil in wok or deep sauce pan.
Deep fry until its cooked and golden redish in colour.
Dish out onto kitchen paper.
Serve immediately

Pasembur / Malaysian-Indian Salad

2013-02-15T12:30:00.000+08:00

Known as Pasembur (pronounce as Puh-serm- bore) in the Northern States of Malaysia or Rojak (pronounce as Raw-Juck) to the rest...
What is Pasembur?... see below... I cut and paste from Wikipedia to describe it best...

"Pasembur is a Malaysian Indian salad consisting of cucumber (shredded), potatoes, beancurd, turnip, bean sprouts, prawn fritters, spicy fried crab, fried octopus or other seafoods^[1] and served with a sweet and spicy nut sauce.

The term Pasembur is peculiar to Northern Peninsular Malaysia. It is especially associated with Penang where Pasembur can be had along Gurney Drive.^[2] In other parts of Malaysia, the term Rojak Mamak is commonly used."

It is my favourite food...

Its been many years..since I last had a plate of Pasembur... the last time I had a plate full of this glorious gorgeous Pasembur was most probably back in 2008, visiting my parents and before my dad's health dwindled.
It was my dad's favourite too...

Occasionally on his way home for lunch, my dad rode his old and trusted Honda Cup (motorbike) to his favourite Pasembur vendor and bought few packets for his family as a treat...

I was a school going kid who lived miles away from school, and had to rely on our super efficient (NOT!!) public transport. I reached home from school almost 2.30 pm everyday.

... feeling tired, sweaty, hot and bothered...Plus it was quite a walk from the bus stop to home... everything seems far in the hot weather plus when one was tired from half day using one's brain power and the heavy bag pack!!!

...but all that feeling vanished as soon as I looked under the food cover ... saw a plate of Pasembur... waiting... 'YAY'...
Shower and a change into fresh clean clothes can wait... but my tummy, couldn't!!

.... not wanting to waste another minute, I pulled a nearby stool, sat and ate my share of the freshly made (by the vendor of course...) Pasembur....

~ Happy ~ Satisfied ~ Contented ....

Pasembur is best eaten immediately... the julienne vegetable will wilt and lose its crunch and so are the fritters...
...so its "too BAD... tough Luck" for me if I was to attend the afternoon session school... wilted and soggy Pasembur would be waiting and greet me from under the food cover ... if any left at all!!!

The above photo shows an overview of the many ingredients to make 'Pasembur'...

psssst....I did not make and include coconut fritters (mix the batter as per Cucur Udang below but substitute chopped prawns with freshly grated coconut, and omit turmeric and shallots)... why? I never like it with my Pasembur anyway... hehehe

Have a great weekend...
Cheers

Lisa H._xox

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Recipe (with thanks to my sister...)

click here to print

Fresh Ingredients

4 hard boiled egg

1 Yam bean /sengkuang – julienne

2 Lebanese cucumber – julienne

3 firm bean curd – deep fried

2 carrots – julienne

1 cup of beansprouts (lightly blanch)

3-4 steam potatoes – quartered

Crispy Prawn Fritters

Cucur Udang / Non crispy Prawn Fritters

3 shallots – thinly sliced

1 cup plain flour

75 g chopped prawns

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon turmeric

150-200 ml water

2 cups of cooking oil

Mix all the ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Stir to mix well.
Batter should be thick.
Heat oil in a wok until nearly smoking.
Using a tablespoon, scoop the batter and drop into the hot oil.
Deep fry until golden in colour.
Dish out the golden nuggets onto the absorbent kitchen paper.
Set aside to cool and cut into bite-size

Sauce

20 dried chillies –washed and soaked overnight and blend with 1 -1 1/2 cups of water*

250 g sweet potato (orange) - blend

250 g roasted peanuts – coarsely grounded

2 cups of golden fried shallots (store-bought from Asian grocer)

4 tablespoon raw sugar

2 tablespoon sesame seeds – roasted

3-4 tablespoon concentrated Tamarind Extract

Salt to taste

Mix the blended chillies and sweet potatoes in a medium size saucepan.
Bring to boil then simmer on medium heat for 20 minutes.
Add the rest of the ingredients until the sauce thickens.
Season to taste

Ok... Lets eat the Pasembur

Prepare, julienne and cut into bite size as per photo above. Divide into individual plates. Drizzle the sauce on top.

Note ~ * water - add 1/2 cup water if it is too thick and unable to move the blender blade.

Crispy Prawn Fritters

2013-02-08T12:30:00.000+08:00

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I take this opportunity to wish my Family, Friends and Readers....

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Have a wonderful, Prosperous Year

Lets start the year of the Snake with happy thoughts...and a BIG Happy smile

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I longed for crispy Prawn Fritters, one of the 'must have' condiments to be added to my favourite Malaysian food called Pasembur.

Pasembur is a Malaysian Indian salad consist of shredded, julienne vegetables like cucumber, yam bean, carrots, bean sprouts, Hard Boiled egg, steam or boiled potatoes and 2 types of prawn fritters ~ crispy and non-crispy
...hopefully photos and text will be ready for my next post...which will be none other than Pasembur...)

I have been experimenting....I have been frying almost every week!! just to get that crispy, crunchy texture...

... It is so UN-like me...

Kids and H were like "Woah... Unbelievable!!!! Mom is frying again!!" ... they were surprised...shocked...but I know deep down... way deep down inside their hearts... they were delighted, perhaps jumping with joy that I was in the mood for deep-fried food.

I fried Loh Bak (my previous post), Banana fritters / pisang goreng, fried chicken drumsticks, chicken wings... and numerous attempts on these delightful Prawn Fritters.

I experimented and whipped up the batter with different ratios of flour, water, mix with egg, without egg, method of swirling the batter on the hot ladle...
Phew ...finally... I believe I nailed it. The crunchiness I seek and crunchiness I get in the end...

pssst....Notice any difference in the photo above and below? ...not talking about the quality of the images nor the type of camera used ...

Taken with iPhone

Don't forget to scroll pass the "Recipe" to see my pictorial on how to make Crispy Prawn Fritters...

Have a wonderful Chinese New Year and weekend too

Lisa H._xox

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Recipe (make about 10-15)

Click here to Print

50g plain flour

20g rice flour

1 tablespoon corn flour

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon lime slake/ Slaked lime solution (diluted)

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon sugar

125ml water plus 1-2 tablespoon extra water

2 cups of cooking oil (deep frying)

10-15 medium size prawns

Alternative: To make Crispy Prawn Fritters Chinese version

add these ingredients below to fritters . Serve as nibbles with Penang Loh Bak

A dash of white pepper

1 teaspoon sesame oil

A pinch of chicken granules

Put all the above ingredients in a mixing bowl. Mix well until there are no lumps visible.
Heat the oil in a deep saucepan.
Place the ladle in the saucepan for few minutes to bring it to the same temperature as the cooking oil.
When the oil is hot, pour 1 tablespoon of batter onto the hot ladle.
Swirl the batter in the ladle to make a thin crepe like.
Place a prawn in the middle and immediately lower the ladle into the hot oil and shake the ladle gently.
After 1 minute, the batter should come off the ladle easily (if it did not…gently nudge the batter with tongs).
Fry until it turns golden in colour.
Serve with sweet chilli sauce

Penang Loh Bak / Beancurd Roll

2013-01-25T12:30:00.000+08:00

Another Festive atmosphere... is in the air, mostly and currently happening in the BlogWorld.
Almost every blog I visited, I see scrumptious traditional and modern bake/ spread alike. I could only imagine the taste of almond cookies, Peanut cookies, kuih bakul or Ti Kueh (Chinese Golden Sweet Sticky Rice cakes) and many more... *sigh*
Yes... Chinese New Year celebration in 16 days time... woohoo... we will soon say hello to the Year of the Snake... my year (hehehe... I am letting the world know how *old* I am ...)

I am kiasu (dont want to miss out)... H and I experimented and made Penang Loh Bak or Beancurd Roll for the first time

Pictorial on how to roll Loh Bak

Loh Bak is definitely something new to me...

...my first bite?, many... many Chinese New Year ago... my late Mother-in-law prepared, rolled and fried Loh Baks with love...

But now.. we have to rely on H's good memories (which sometimes failed him too, getting 'wiser' aka OLD) and do the best we can to make our Chinese New Year with kids... memorable

Making and savouring Loh Baks definitely invoke that nostalgia Chinese New Year mood... and its good to enjoy such delicacy once a year, not more... for I have a great phobia of deep frying food (fried oily food seems good in navigating its way and happily settled on my thigh, tummy and butt ... )

Have a wonderful weekend peeps...
and to my Oz friends "Have a happy, relaxing 3-day long *Australia Day* weekend... *double thumbs up*"

Lisa H._xox

Recipe

Click here to print

A packet of Dried Bean curd skin

2 cups of canola oil for deep frying

Filling:

1 kg mince chicken

2 onions – finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic – finely chopped

¼ cup spring onion – finely sliced

2 eggs

½ tablespoon five spice powder

1 teaspoon salt

½ tablespoon sugar

¼ tablespoon light soya sauce

1 teaspoon white pepper

1 teaspoon sesame oil

2 tablespoon corn flour

Sauce

Sweet chilli sauce

Filling : Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Mix well. Set aside
Beancurd : damp tea towel and place 1 sheet of beancurd skin for few minutes to soften it. Cut into desirable size. (note: prepare beancurd skin one at a time… may not use the whole packet)
Pre heat oil in a wok or deep saucepan
Spoon the meat mixture onto the cut-up beancurd skin, spread and roll the beancurd skin neatly (refer to pictorial above)
Gently lowered the rolled up Loh Bak onto the hot oil and fry until it turn to deep golden in colour.

Angel Hair, Lemon and Olive Oil

2013-01-18T12:30:00.000+08:00

...continue from last week... read here

I crawled into bed, hoping to catch some sleep... turning and tossing looking for my comfort spot... but I could not rest... nor shut my eyes... my ticking brain...damn!!!

Drag myself out of bed again... off to the kitchen and started to boil a pot of water to cook pasta.
Pasta cooked, stirred in Olive oil infused with lemon, seasoned with salt and pepper and placed cling film over the salad bowl and refrigerate...then onto making Gazpacho

The 'Hard Work' was done... half an hour before dinner time...just diced tomatoes, crumbled some feta and shred (if needs be) some basil and give it a quick toss, and serve....

By the time I am done with pasta and Gazpacho... the sun was high and too hot to continue sleeping...

Have a wonderful weekend, peeps

Lisa H._xox

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Recipe (for 4)
click here to print

400g Angel hair pasta

150g-200g reduced fat feta cheese

3 tablespoon of store bought olive oil infused with lemon (add more if required)

2 tomatoes - deseeded and diced

fresh basil leaves

salt and pepper

cook angel hair as per instruction on the packet.
toss and transfer to salad bowl.
Add olive oil and mix in well.
Season with salt and pepper. (option: refrigerate at this stage)
Mix in diced tomatoes, crumble feta and fresh basil leaves into the salad bowl.
Give it a light toss.
serve

Gazpacho

2013-01-11T12:30:00.000+08:00

My brain slowly becoming alert and waking up from interrupted night sleep. My eyes were trying to accommodate and adjust to the bright light streaming from my bedroom windows... almost blinding...
A quick glance towards the ticking alarm clock... its almost 7 am.

Small beads of sweat started to emerge...

Slowly... lazily... I swung my feet off the bed and head out to the kitchen... in the 'sleep deprivation' state of mind, I reached out to open the door... walked out to the yard... smell the air...
The sky was clear without any white fluffy clouds, the air was heavy, humid and almost zero breeze...
... I let out a big sigh... '... another scorcher day!!'

'what's for dinner?' I could almost hear myself asking... I had no intention to slog over the stove nor am I starting the oven...
Half awake and half asleep...reached out to open the fridge... did a quick scan... found a bag of truss tomatoes, cucumber, feta cheese, basil and few bits and bobs...

My daughter's ~ "Mom,can you make tomato soup? I loooove tomato soup"... came to mind.

Gazpacho!... yes Gazpacho...why not give it a go.. afterall, it is tomato soup
Super PLUS point is ~ Gazpacho best served COLD!! Superb on HOT summer days...

With dinner plan 'almost' sorted... I shut the fridge door firmly... and headed back to bed, hoping to catch another wink or two...

Next week Post: another COLD meal to go with Gazpacho ~ Simple Angle Hair with Olive Oil infused with Lemon....stay tune ...

Take care... and have a wonderful weekend.

Lisa H._xox

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Recipe (serve 4)

Click here to print

2 Slices of ciabbatta (1 inch thick)

2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

¼ cup water

600g tomatoes

½ continental cucumber

1/8 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon paprika

1 garlic cloves

1/3 cup of olive oil

Garnish

2 Tablespoon diced tomatoes

2 Tablespoon diced cucumber

Sprigs of fresh basil leaves

Mix Balsamic vinegar with water and soak ciabbatta. Set aside
Remove seeds from tomatoes and cucumber.
Toss the vegetable with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Transfer everything into a blender and blend till smooth.
Sieve into a jug
Chill for at least 4 hours
Garnish with diced cucumber, tomatoes and sprigs of Basil leaves.

Ambarella Juice/ Buah Ambra Juice

2013-01-04T12:30:00.000+08:00

Happy New Year …

Happy New Year…

How was your Christmas and New Year Celebration? Hope you had a wonderful time with family and friends over the long December break.

We had a fantastic time... Managed to complete 90% of our 'To Do/ Must Do' list.
Cooked, Eat.. Cooked again and Eat again...these 2 activitities were not in the list
Had a couple of invites to friends' Christmas Party... and I made for the 1st time ever ~ CROQUEMBOUCHE... to bring ...the only disappointment was the spun sugar kept on breaking up... and Pumpkin with coconut milk Agar-agar too.

I (again), for the 1st time...sorry for sounding like a broken record... roast a turkey and that too turned out moist and juicy... a combination of recipe from Ina Garten's new cookbook, my best friend's tip for the succulent juicy meat and roasting using Elise's (Simply Recipe) method...

You can view the recipe for the Roast Turkey on my facebook... and photos of both Croquembouche and Roast Turkey either on my facebook or Instagram

this churpy wren is my morning motivation to walk the kilometers

... after 10 days on eating...binging spree...it was not a pleasant sight to see my weighing scale needle moved few millimeters to the right....aaargggh!!!! served me right for eating like there is NO tomorrow...

Back to my regime ~ going for my 3km walk every morning... taking the opportunity while school is still out for the summer hence NO morning rush... hoping that I shed some kilos

...but there was a stumbling block to my plan... an element that is beyond my control ~ the WEATHER !!

Perth had been hit by heatwave in the last week of December...the temperature shot up to 42C. The mercury kept on rising as soon as the first ray of light hit the ground....to walk means I have to wake up as early as 5.30am...ooohhh... torn between comfy bed and achieving svelte figure (hahaha... how I wish for the later!!!); I'd choose my bed more than shedding the kilos ... hehehe

On scorcher days, I'd love to cool down with lots of iced H2O, Iced Kalamansi Tea, Lemonade... or the naughty sip or two or more... of icy cold Coca-Cola ...bliss

During one of my weekly grocery outings, I found some Ambarella or Ambra or Kedondong or Ma Kok, in the local Asian grocer... fruits were pricey and a bit on the ripe side ... only good for juicing...

What is Ambarella? Click here for its description

Tastewise~ Young fruits tasted sourish and tart while the ripe ones tasted sweet and can be slightly mushy...

I grew up eating lots and lots of Ambarella or the other name I used is 'Buah Ambra'...
...dip the cut up young Ambra pieces into the spicy-sweet prawn paste mixture (locally known as garam belacan) or pickled the peeled fruits in sweet vinegary solution or served as Asian side dish (make into salad or kerabu)

A sweet reminder of 'the good ole' childhood days...
... the drink is cooling... soothing... sweet with a tinge of sourish taste... a definite thirst quencher on hot days!

Recipe
(Click here to Print Recipe)

5-6 Ambarella –peeled and chopped

300-400ml water

4 tablespoon sugar (adjust to suit your tastebud)

Dried plums (from Asian Grocer)

Ice cubes

Blend chopped Ambarella with water and sugar.
Sieve into a jug.
Divide into 2 glasses.
Add 1 or 2 dried plums into each glasses
Serve with ice cubes

It has been a Wonderful 2012

2012-12-21T12:30:00.000+08:00

The end is nearly here... no I am not talking about Mayan Calender that supposed to end TODAY!!!

Few more sleeps to go, we shall bid farewell to 2012.

It has been a wonderful 2012 for us

Together, FMLK and I with the support of my 3 darlings ~ H, D and E; friends and readers ...

...'Toast' ~ Here's to OUR achievements :~

FMLK came 68th ~ The Top Mom 100 Food Blogs for 2012
3rd place Winner for the DMBLGiT in May 2012 and July 2012.
FMLK featured for the firts time in Malaysian Magazine ~ Kunang2 October 2012 issue
Featured on Huffington Post

I would like to say

ThankYou

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

..and I take this opportunity to wish everyone....

FMLK will take a break and will be back in January 2013...

See you soon...

Lisa H._xox

Spritzen Christmas Wreath

2012-12-14T12:30:00.000+08:00

I'll be doing my Happy Dance on Cloud 9... each time I received constructive feedback from my readers, be it via the Comment box below, Facebook, Twitter or emails...

Feels good to know that someone read my post and appreciate my handi/art work... and brought me to greater heights... reeling from 'Euphoria' and almost feeling giddy... to know at least one person had tried making or baking one recipe taken 'From My Lemony Kitchen...' and they enjoyed their "make" as much as I enjoyed mine....

Thank You

Sometimes in June this year, I received an email, from a reader in Holland. Few emails going to and fro , exchanging views on one of my posts ~ Samperit, the melt in the mouth custard cookies...

Reading her reply made me smile... she baked some and loved the cookies...

I was just like a little school girl who had just been told that by her teacher that she had passed her exams with flying colours...blushed , head was buzzing with excitement, heart was beating like a drum and couldn't stop smiling from ear to ear...

In return...Rachel mentioned in one of her emails, about the Dutch famous cookies ~ Spritzen by Rudolf Van Veen... thus she sent me the link

I was excited... another recipe to try

I hopped onto the link... its in Dutch. I seeked Mr Google to translate but he was no help at all....so I wrote to Rachel, stating my predicament and helplessness situation... Rachel to my rescue...

I thank you Rachel... from the bottom of my heart. Eventhough you were busy with your family and work, you gave some of your precious time to translate and emailed me the recipe in English.

With a bit of research on my part, I found out that Spritzen or Spritz cookies or Swedish Butter cookies or Pressed Butter Cookies are popular Christmas cookies... hence here is my take on Spritzen to add to your Christmas celebration...or tree

Happy Baking

Lisa H._xox

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Recipe (yield 80 pieces)

courtesy from : Rachel v H.

Click here to Print recipe

1 vanilla pod

320 grams of soft butter or margarine

200 grams of caster sugar
1 egg
400 grams of flour
a pinch of salt

Coloured sugar

4 tablespoon raw sugar

Wilton colour gel ~ red and moss green were used.

Some dragees to decorate

Pre-heat oven to 150 C .
To make coloured sugar ~ place 2 tablespoons sugar in 2 separate plastic bags /zip lock bags. Use the tip of cocktail toothpick and dip into food colouring and onto sugar. Close the bag. Mix and rub sugar and food colouring well.
Slice vanilla pod lengthwise and scrape the seeds out.
In a mixing bowl, rub butter, caster sugar and vanilla seeds until combine.
Add egg and continue to mix (by hand).
Add flour (I continued mixing by hand) until all ingredients comes together.
Get piping bag ready with nozzle of your choice. Transfer dough into the bag.
Pipe onto baking tray lined with greased proof paper.
Sprinkle coloured sugar and decorate with dragees
Bake for 17 minutes or until golden in colour.

Strawberry and Basil Ice-Cream

2012-12-07T12:30:00.000+08:00

We grew up reciting this ... more than a dozen times... right? especially we were on the mission to annoy 'Boys'

What are little girls made of?
Sugar and spice,
And all that's nice;
That's what little girls are made of.

and Boys???
of course ...all the things that aren't as nice

I made this batch of ice-cream sometimes in late October, when strawberries were abundance and at a bargain ... yeah... I know I am getting slow in posting lately... I blamed it on my lack of discipline...

When asked 'What are you going to do with all these strawberries...?' I went 'errmmm...'

I had over 6 kgs of strawberries... shocking!!!

many lovely dishes crossed my mind... but ice-cream ... yum... who can resist ice-cream?

So I gathered all the ingredients needed to churn some delicious scrumptious ice-cream... kiddos and H, knew I was making strawberry ice-cream..and that was that..

Ice-cream all set .... scooped into individual ice-cream bowls and ready to be served...

H took his first spoonful ...

"H ~.. Its not only 'strawberry' ice-cream, isn't it?...something else was added... but I can't put my finger to the taste... familiar but...
Me~ keep on tasting... and guessing..."

...and after tasting few more spoonful...well...nearly half of ice-cream dissappeared, he was still clueless

Then D walked in... tasted and had that same look and question as his dad...

" D~ ....dont tell me.... I want to guess "

smiling to myself....feeling 'victorious'...hehehe... they aren't going to get it right...

Last... to waltz into the scene ~ my 'Pwincess...'

"E~ ooh yummo... Ice-cream!!! "

after the first taste...

"E~ nice... yummm... strawberry and BASIL... "

....because "Girls are made of sugar and spice and everything that is nice...", she knew exactly what was in the ice-cream.... hehehe... do better next time BOYS!!!

Love and Hugs

Lisa H._xox

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Recipe

(adapted from Delicious October 2011)

Click here to Print

550g strawberries – washed and chopped

20g basil leaves

15 ml lemon juice

250ml thickened cream

2/3 castor sugar plus 2 tablespoon extra

Whisk strawberries, basil and lemon juice until smooth.
Transfer into a mixing bowl .
Add cream and sugar. Mix well.
Transfer the mixture into the ice-cream maker and churn according to manufacturer’s instruction.
Freeze for 2 hours until frozen at the edge or until firm.
Serve in a cone or cup.

Chai Kwe / Chives Parcels

2012-11-27T13:00:00.000+08:00

From my Perspective...

I have been waiting and pictured this 'Day'... ever since my son was in Year 1... of how life would be... when he reached the end of his 'Schooling' days...

Yes...His school days has just ended... with him and his peers attended their Graduation Day (last Saturday). As I sat among other parents, listened to the speeches by invited guest, Mrs Principal and Mr Year Co-Ordinator, looking at my boy sitting on the stage in his 'graduation' gown... I had a lump in my throat and was close to tears... My son is no longer that small boy who cling on to his mommy's hand, on to his mommy's every word...

He soon will enter another phase of his life, embark onto another journey called 'Adulthood'.

And I?... I have to learn to let go....

Stirling Garden, Perth ~ captured by iPhone4S

From his perspective:

After nearly more than 12 years (would be nearly 16 years if counting his play school, and kindy...) of studying, going through the exams, the ups and downs and the near misses results, braving the stormy weather as well as the scorching hot Perth sun... he is finally done with school!!

21st of November 2012... was a New Day for him... woke up ...no more homework, no more EXAMS!!! Hurray!!!! or was it?
...possible feeling a little Lost!!

While waiting for another 'Wheel of Motion' to take place... I am taking this opportunity to give him lessons in 'Basic Life Skills' ~helping out with house chores and cooking...
Should he decides to fly away from his nest...then I'd know that he can always take care of himself well (and not survive on miso soup and rice everyday!!!)... just like my late Mother-in-law trained her eldest son (H)... am so grateful and thankful to her.

Without her training... getting H to help out in the kitchen, when he was a lad, H wouldn't have a clue how to make this lovely Chai Kwe or Chives Parcels...Thank you, Mummy

Lisa H._xox

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Recipe ~ courtesy from my late Mother-in-Law
(makes about 20)
Click here to Print recipe

Dough

300g wheat starch

200g tapioca flour

A pinch of salt

600-700ml hot boiling water

Garlic Oil

5 cloves of garlic chopped

3 tablespoon of canola oil

Chives filling

2 bunches of chives – washed and chopped

10-15 cooked prawns – chopped

Salt and white pepper

Cabbage filling

¼ of cabbage – finely cut

2 carrots – julienne

2 chopped garlic

2 tablespoon dried prawns – soaked and chopped

Salt and white pepper

Making the dough

In a heat proof container, sieve the wheat starch and tapioca flour, add some salt.
Using a wooden spatula, gently pour in 200 ml of hot water, stir.
Repeat the process with the remaining hot water.
By now, the dough would be just combine…
Please Note: we are using hot water.. and we don’t want our delicate hand to be scorched, do transfer the dough into a cake/dough mixer and carry on mixing until its is well mix… the dough should not be too hard nor soft.
Adjust the water accordingly.
Cover with damp cloth and put it aside.

Garlic oil

Heat up the oil in a frypan and sauté the chopped garlic until its aromatic and golden in colour.
Transfer the golden fried garlic and the garlic oil into a heatproof bowl

Chives Filling

Mix chopped chives and prawns and season with salt and white pepper

Cabbage filling

Heat up the oil in a frypan and sauté the chopped garlic until its aromatic.
Add in chopped dried prawns and stir for 2 minutes, then add cabbage and carrots.
Keep stirring for another 5 minutes.
Season with salt and white pepper.
Keep aside to cool.

Assemble

Roll out the dough into 2mm to 3 mm thickness.
Using a round cookie cutter, gently cut the dough.
Fill each disc with 1-2 teaspoon of chives mixture (or cabbage mixture).
Crimp the edges.
Place dumplings on a greased tray (or banana leaf ~ if you can find one) and steam for 15 minutes.
Carefully remove from steamer and drizzle each dumpling with golden fried garlic and garlic oil.
Serve immediately with hot chilli sauce or Sriracha.

Soy Pannacotta with Rhubarb Ginger Compote

2012-11-16T12:30:00.000+08:00

My bad... for not putting up this post last week.
I was busy... taking my own sweet time with spring cleaning... with few tens of glass doors and windows to clean... and at the rate I am going... looks like it will be Summer Cleaning too.

Spring Cleaning is the MAIN reason... but the underlying reason ~ I was distracted by Instagram ... shhhh dont tell H ...

photos from InstaGram

What comes to mind when I mentioned the word 'Spring and Summer'?
Perhaps.... Rhubarb is one of them?

I have been experimenting and cooking rhubarb ever since I could get rhubarb in the market at a reasonable price. Tried baking Rhubarb Streusel Cake... I received 3 thumbs down . Had it with Vanilla french Yoghurt... another 3 thumbs down.
Thought I'd give rhubarb another go... this time round, I marry the few ingredients I love ~ rhubarb (of course), ginger and soy milk...the vote was 2:2 .

Hence Soybean Panncotta with Rhubarb compote was 'born' in my kitchen...

I loved the smoothness of Pannacotta with a hint of ginger plus some burst of sweet/sour and gingery taste of Rhubarb compote. H was OK with it .. his comments was "could do with extra sugar"

And the kids... hmmm still 2 thumbs down

Have a blessed week everyone

Lisa H._xox

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Recipe
serves 4-6

{click here to print}

Rhubarb Ginger Compote

250g chopped Rhubarb
50g grated ginger

¼ cup raw sugar (add extra sugar if desired)

SoyBean Pannacota

2 ½ cups of unsweetened soy milk
2/3 cup caster sugar

15 ml gelatin

1 inch of sliced ginger

For the compote

Place chopped rhubarb, grated ginger and sugar in a pot.
Bring to a quick boil, then lower the heat to a simmer.
Cook and stir occasionally for 5-6 minutes until rhubarb is soft.
Take off the heat and leave it aside to cool.

For the Pannacotta

Sprinkle gelatin over ½ cup of soy milk. Leave it aside for 5 minutes.
In a saucepan, place ginger slices and soy milk, over medium heat until it gently simmer for 5 minutes.
Take it off the heat, add sugar and gelatin mixture.
Stir until gelatin is fully dissolved.
Spray 4-6 ramekins with cooking spray.
Divide the mixture equally and refrigerate for at least 5 hours.
Serve with Rhubarb Ginger Compote.

Lisa's Guest Post #2 ~ Indonesian Crushed Fried Chicken / Ayam Penyet

2012-11-02T12:30:00.000+08:00

I am honoured to have the talented Tika Hapsari Nilmada of Cemplang Cemplung to be my guest.

Tika who hailed from Indonesia is a super talented young mom, who manages her time between her career, her family, housekeeping, cooking and her hobby which is photography... Tika bagged many awards throughout her blogging/ photography years.
Her cooking skills and her photos are an inspirational to late bloomers like me... Hop over to Tika's kitchen and check out her delicious authentic Indonesian cuisine in her blog.

I'll say no more... I hand over the'podium' to Tika with her mouth watering, authentic Indonesian Crushed Fried Chicken or Ayam Penyet...

"One of Indonesian most popular meat based dish is fried chicken. From roadside stalls to biggest restaurants have fried chicken on their menu list.
Indonesian fried chicken is totally different with the ones we often see and eat in fast food restaurants. We, here in Indonesian, seasoned the chicken meat with spices, I mean lots of spices :D.

Therefore, along with this post I keep my promise to Lisa to write about Indonesian Ayam Penyet / Indonesian crushed fried chicken with sambal. Thank you, Lisa.

Various style of fried chicken offered by each region in Indonesia. We have fried chicken in yellow spices, fried chicken in crispy flakes and many more. Every region has its own spices, cooking styles and recipes. Indonesian fried chicken in yellow spices needs two processes of cooking before serving.
First, chicken braised with ground spices before we can deep fry them. Despite I don’t like fried chicken too much, but I’ll enjoy it if it served with coconut scented rice or sambal.
For the sambal itself, I remember I had a dinner with friends few years ago. We ate crushed fried chicken with special sambal and somehow the taste of the sambal still remain in my memory and my taste buds.

The crushed style dishes offer more variations nowadays and fried chicken is not the only option. When it comes to business competition, people become creative to invent new products.
Surely, customers will get the benefits from this situation.
Usually all crushed dishes such as tempe, tahu (tofu), meat ball, duck or even catfish use the same chilli sambal.
The chilli sambal is super hot but it will make you eat more and more :D And guess what, the chilli sambal in this recipe has the same taste as the one I tried long time ago. What a nice coincidence !

So, here is the traditional and humble side dish from Indonesia where you eat it with your right hand (forget the spoon, fork and knife).
It normally served on a traditional pottery serving plate.
Don’t forget the warm rice and raw salad..."

oooh... I can't wait to try Tika's Crushed Fried Chicken or Ayam Penyet

Hope you enjoyed Tika's post as much as I do...
Thank you Tika for the lovely post

Lisa H._xox

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ayam penyet / Crushed fried chicken with sambal

makes 4

Click here to print the recipe

Ingredients :

1 whole chicken, cut into four pieces
2 salam leaves / Indonesian bay leaves
3 lemongrass, take the white part and crush
2 cm of galangal, crush
6 kaffir lime leaves, remove the center vein
1 liter of water
2 ½ tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
oil for deep fry

Grind to make paste :

12 shallots
5 cloves garlic
4 candlenuts, fry without oil
2 cm turmeric, roasted
1 tsp coriander seeds

Sambal :

20 bird’s eye chilies
6 red chilies
4 shallots
10 cloves garlic
1 tsp shrimp paste
½ tsp sugar
4 tbsp oil to saute

Methods :

Chicken :

In a pot, put all ingredients and spices paste, bring to a boil. Don’t forget to stir from time to time to ensure even cooking.
Cook on medium heat until the water has evaporated.
Remove from the heat.
Let it cool completely.
Heat the skillet over medium heat and add oil into the skillet.
When the oil is hot enough, add the chicken pieces and deep fry until golden brown.
Remove from heat and place them on a cooling rack to drain excess oil.

Sambal :

grind all ingredients into a fine paste (I use mortar and pestle).
Heat the oil in the wok over medium heat.
Add the grind sambal and stir about 5 minutes.
Transfer the sambal onto the mortar.
Place the fried chicken over the sambal and crushed it using the pestle.
Serve on a plate with raw salad.

Gozleme

2012-10-26T11:30:00.000+08:00

Do you know where to get the best Gozleme in Perth?... read on... for the best Gozleme, I've had so far... at the end of this post and if you know of any, do drop me a line...

I had my first bite, my first taste of Gozleme, eight years ago, at this particular Kebab shop near my place...
I would definitely order one whenever I happened to be in that shopping centre around lunch time... unfortunately the quality soon dwindle... Their Gozleme may have the look and shape ... but lacked of flavours, the filling was barely there... all I could taste was just the golden brown cooked dough with a tangy sourish taste of lemon...

H tasted that flat Gozleme... 'and never again would I want to eat that piece of crap again...', H lamented.
Gozleme has become "the bad word" in his food-vocabulary... he wasn't interested...not even when I said 'I'll make some...' ...... He was so not in favour ...

My quest for a good Gozleme did not just die there... I have tried Gozlemes in many 'Kebab' shops... around Perth Northern, I have tried the one in Fremantle E-shed...
Most of the Gozlemes I tasted, couldn't match the one 8 years ago... I nearly gave up, thinking that perhaps that good Gozleme can only be achieved at home...still need to coax and convince that someone ...who I shall not mention here... again

All was not lost... I finally found the best Gozleme ... hers was the best! Judging by the long queue during lunch crowd, I wouldn't be far off if I'd say that... its the Real Deal...and surprisingly H agrees!!!...generous with the filling and quite sizeable too...

If you are in Perth... do try out this Turkish treat in Harbour Town (opposite Lorna Jane)...

This is my version of Gozleme...superb for BBQ get together.

Wishing everyone who is celebrating…

have a happy wonderful

Eid~ul~Adha

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Adha…

Lisa H._xox

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Recipe (make about 12 pieces)
(adapted with changes AWW)

Click here to print

Dough

600g plain flour
1 teaspoon cooking salt
410ml warm water
2 tablespoon vegetable oil

Chicken Filling

500g chicken thigh - mince or chopped
2 tablespoon cumin - grounded
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 clove garlic - crushed
1/2 cup parsley - chopped
salt and pepper

Spinach and Feta filling

150g spinach roughly chopped
1/2 cup coarsely chopped mint
200g reduced fat feta cheese
1 cup mozarella cheese
1 cup of tasty cheese

Dough

Mix all the ingredients and knead into a smooth dough
Set aside and cover with damp cloth
Let the dough rest.

Filling

Heat up the saute pan with 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil.
Saute the garlic and spices until fragrant
Add chicken and stir and simmer until the chicken is cooked and liquid evaporate.
Season with salt and pepper
Stir in parsley
Set aside to cool
In another bowl, mix spinach, feta and mint.

Putting everything together...

Divide the dough into 12
Roll to 15cm by 15cm (approximately). Let the dough rest for 5 minutes ....if the dough seems a little bit elastic...
Divide the filling...and
Spoon the chicken filling and fill up about half of the rolled dough (using imaginary line...fill up 7.5cm by 15 cm)
top up with spinach and feta mix
Add about 1 dinner spoon of tasty cheese
Add 1 dinner spoon of mozzarella cheese
Carefully and gently fold the dough and crimp the edges.
Heat up the flat plate on the barbeque or skillet
Drizzle some oil
Place and cook the gozleme until it turn golden in colour.
Flip over
Serve immediately with lemon wedges

Oreo Peanut Butter Pie

2012-10-12T13:00:00.000+08:00

**Warning:**
This post is not suitable for the faint hearted when it comes to dessert and for those who are watching what they eat...
Click away now...
...don't say I did not warn you....

You deserve a pat on your back for being 'BRAVE' ...to continue reading...

It all started with... My car and its routine checkup...

Appointment booked and I thought...hmmm why not make it a 'Day out' for me and spend sometime in the library...so off to library, I went after dropping off my car, early one Friday morning.
I had at least 4 hours to kill....
Chose the best spot and plonked myself next to the 'Cookbook' shelf plus some old magazines to browse...
Books after books and magazines too...hey for once .. I was in NO rush and not bothered about the ticking clock

Whilst flipping the magazines... this gorgeous looking pie sprung on and was staring at me in the eye...
My heart was telling me..'Flip away...move on...' but I was hypnotised... gazed fixed onto the image... my fingers refused to flip the page...*sigh* I succumbed to temptation...
... did what a decent 'sweet tooth, dessert' crazy woman would do...put pen and paper to work then start walking towards the nearby grocery stores...

With every steps, I took...

Guilt was telling me to make a 'U-turn' and head back to the library... but Glut was encouragingly sweet...

Finally I took the mid way... Glut could be satiated and Guilt was happy with the changes made..
and ....the taste~...out of this world...

Heavenly...

If you are DARING (unlike me...chicken!!!) and would love to try the full version of the Pie...
Click here to see TRISH DESEINE's recipe

Recipe (makes 4)
adapted with changes from Delicious Magazine May 2012

Click here for Printable Recipe

Crust

10 oreo biscuits
35g butter

Filling

8 tablespoon Kraft Whipped Peanut butter

Dark/ White Chocolate topping

50g dark chocolate

50g butter

50g white chocolate (optional)

Finely crushed oreos using food processor.
Melt 35g butter and mix well with crushed oreos.
Press onto the bottom and sides of 4 x 8cm loose bottom tart pan.
Refrigerate for 1 hour.
Spoon 2 tablespoons of Kraft whipped Peanut Butter in each tart case.
Melt chocolate with 25g butter (dark and white separately) using double boil method.
Using a non wooden spoon, stir until the chocolate mixture melt, smooth and shiny.
Spread either dark, white or combine the two over peanut butter.
Sprinkle some seasalt.
Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

LisaH..._xox