Kitchen Exploits

A Cake for Sophie

2011-10-08T05:58:00.000-07:00

A creamy, luscious blueberry cheesecake for a delectable person with a wicked sense of humor. With love from Malaysia to Macau - celebrating an eventful friendship that has spanned over a quarter of a century.

Cheers to life with endless, wonderful possibilities, dearest Sophie!

Happy birthday Sophie!

Spaghetti Alle Vongole

2011-08-26T00:27:00.000-07:00

Spaghetti Alle Vongole

Spaghetti Alle Vongole - simple to prepare and good to eat, particularly with some warm home-made garlic bread to mop up the remaining gravy from the plate.

For me, it was the perfect choice for a simple, fuss-free catch-up session with 3 old buddies in the comforts of my home whilst the hubby was away on business in the States. Nowadays, I usually meet up with these 3 in a larger group setting at fancy restaurants or popular eateries at regular, monthly intervals.

So this was a nice, quiet change as well as a throwback to the past when we used to commune and cook together at each other's homes on some weekends. Those were the days when home cooked meals were scarce as we spend weekdays and nights huddled at the office and even later nights gallivanting round town after work hours looking for some fun, food and drinks.

I had all my ingredients prepared before hand and stored in the refrigerator awaiting the arrival of my friends.

When my friends arrived, it took all of 10 minutes to toss up the Spaghetti Alle Vongole (including the 5 minutes cooking time for the spaghetti per package instructions) while my very helpful buds, SC and PC took on the task of buttering the garlic bread before popping them into the oven for 5 minutes.

Many hands make light work !

Ingredients : (Serves 3-4)

350 g spaghetti ( I used Barilla's No.3 cooked for 5 minutes till al-dente in boiling water , salt and some oil according to package instructions)

1.5 kg of lokam clams - shell included

3 large tomatoes, diced

1 bulb of garlic, roughly minced

100 g of cilantro leaves

3-4 dried chillis, chopped up or minced (whilst kept dry) into chilli flakes

1 cupful or 200 -250 ml of dry white wine

3 tbsp of olive oil or normal oil

Salt and freshly grounded black pepper to suit your taste

The Cooking Bit :

On 1 stove, put about a litre of water to the boil with a teaspoon of salt and a tablespoon of oil. Place your spaghetti in to cook when water begins to boil, timed according to the instructions accompanying the spaghetti.

About 3 minutes before the spaghetti is about to be done, pour 3 tbsp of oil into a large pan or wok (on a separate stove) on low heat. Saute the garlic and dried chillies for a minute. ( I prefer to remove some of the garlic and all of the chillis at this stage to set aside for later inclusion into the dish)

Turn up the heat or intensity of the fire and throw in the clams. Include the wine at this stage and cover with a lid while you bring the clams to a boil for about 2 minutes or so. Clams will start to open up on its own accord when cooked.

When sauce starts to reduce a little on high heat ( in about 2 minutes or more), throw in the diced tomatoes and let sauce simmer for about 30 seconds. Put in the roughly chopped cilantro leaves.

Turn down the flames, and introduce your spaghetti into the pan/wok at this stage. Season with sea salt and a generous sprinkling of black pepper. Be sure to taste as you gradually increase the salt content. (If you want a your spaghetti sauce to be a little thicker, add in about 2-3 tbsp of the water in which you used to boil your spaghetti)

Reintroduce the sauteed dry chilli flakes and garlic (which was set aside earlier) and give the mixture a good toss. Dish onto plates and serve immediately with some garlic bread.

The Vongole Aftermath

For dessert, we finished off with individual strawberry pavlovas with chocolate sauce (also another easy to do dish - as the meringue and chocolate sauce may be prepared ahead of time while the cream may be whipped up on the spot with assembly of the fruits and sauce topping to follow immediately after).

Crazy as it seems but the following is a picture of what we topped off all that food from dinner and dessert with - DURIANS! Thanks to one of my buds, CKS, who had come prepared with this most unusual offering.

What can I say - we've got crazy tastebuds and crazy tummies to match!

Berry and Kiwi Pavlova

2011-08-06T01:29:00.000-07:00

A light dessert that's pleasing to the eye and hell of easy to make! The secret to a good pavlova lies really in the meringue base. Get the base light and crisp on the outside and slightly soft and marshmellowy on the inside, and you're almost there!

The next steps are literally child's play. I whipped up some cream and got my 5 year old daughter and 7 year old nephew to pile the cream followed by the cleaned and sliced fruits on top. The dessert was then good to go.

The meringue base may be kept up to 2 days in an airtight container. Hence, you can make this in advance and pile on the topping only upon serving. Takes only 5-10 minutes. However, once the cream and fruits are spooned over the meringue base, the pavlova can keep in the fridge for only a couple of hours before it starts to soften.

Ingredients :

Meringue base
5 egg whites
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp of white vinegar
1 1/2 tsp cornflour

Topping
1 cup cream for whipping
5-6 large strawberries, sliced
80 g blueberries
1 kiwi fruit, sliced

Methodology

1. Beat egg whites until soft peaks are formed.

For best results, the egg whites have to be beaten at room temperature. Make sure that the beater and mixing bowl is absolutely grease-free. Otherwise, the beaten egg whites won't rise.

2. When soft white peaks begin to appear, gradually add in the sugar while continuing with the whipping.

3. When egg whites are stiff, glossy and white, sprinkle some cornflour and the white vinegar over the mixture and continue to whip the mixture for another few seconds.

4. Draw a circle with a diameter of 8-9 inches (depending on how wide or high you want your meringue to be) on some greased baking sheet. Spoon your whipped egg white right into the middle of the circle.

5. Using the back of a spoon, gently spread the whipped whites out to the edges of your drawn circle. Try to shape a hollow a slight indent in the middle to hold the whipped cream.

Place in pre-heated oven at 130 degrees celsius for about 50 minutes.

6. Meringue is done when it's a pale golden in colour and lightly crisp on the outside. Leave the meringue to cool in the oven (with the oven door slightly ajar) for a further hour or until meringue is completely cool. (You may make the meringue ahead of time)

7. Upon serving, whip up some cream. Spread the whipped cream over the cooled meringue. (I like my cream without sugar as the meringue itself is pretty sweet.)

*See note below for tips in whipping cream successfully*

8. Pile the cleaned, sliced and chilled fruits on the whipped cream to decorate and flavour your meringue dessert.

9. Lo and behold, the berry and kiwi pavlova is ready to be served.

*Note on whipping up your cream*

For best results, cream should be whipped straight out of the refrigerator. It would help to chill the mixing bowl and whipping utensils right before whipping your cream to ensure the cream remains cool during whipping. Otherwise, the cream may fail to rise and stiffen. I've learnt the hard way :)

Easy Golden Pumpkin Soup

2011-07-03T00:58:00.000-07:00

Golden Pumpkin Soup with a dollop of cream, spring onion garnishing and and a dash of paprika

This pumpkin soup recipe is a winner in my books! Merely because (1) it has only 3 main ingredients, (2) is unbelievably easy to make and (3) tastes simply divine.

3 main ingredients: Pumpkin, potato and roasted cashew nuts

I came across this pumpkin soup recipe while attending a cooking demonstration for the Thermomix TM31.

Using the Thermomix TM31, the pumpkin soup can be made under 20 minutes. Cooked under a controlled temperature of 100 degrees celsius and blended to perfection, the soup yields a texture that is so fine and smooth, it slides off your tongue right down your throat. It has a very simple, savoury and unadulterated taste.

I've made this soup both the conventional way as well as using the Thermomix TM31. The stark difference between the 2 cooking methods is that with the Thermomix TM31, it was way too easy and speedy to make and I get a finer puree with the high speed blending function.

Ingredients and Proportions (Serves 4-5)

350 g pumpkin, cubed
100 g potatoes, cubed
40 g roasted cashew nuts
700 g chicken stock or water
1 tsp of paprika powder
Salt to taste

Conventional Cooking Method
(1) Place pumpkin, potatoes and stock/liquid in a pot and bring to a boil on the stove. Simmer for about 15-20 minutes on low fire until pumpkin and potatoes are softened.
(2) Throw in the roasted cashews, a tsp of salt and a tsp of paprika powder and blend until fine with a handblender.
(3) You may adjust the thickness or consistency of your soup to your liking by adding in more liquid or fresh milk, teaspoon by teaspoon. Gently reheat the soup before serving.
(4) Garnish with a dollop of cream, thin strips of spring onions and a dash of paprika for that finishing touch!

Cooking with the Thermomix TM31

(1) Place potatoes, pumpkin and stock/liquid into the TM31

(2) Cook for 15 minutes on varoma at speed 4

(3) Throw in the cashews, salt and paprika

(4) Blend at speed 4 for 30 seconds then at speed 9 for another 30 seconds

(5) Add more salt or liquid to your desired taste.

Soup will have a fine, smooth and creamy consistency. The best thing about using the Thermomix TM31 is that the washing up is so easy. I've only got 1 thing to wash up - and that's the mixing bowl of the TM31.

Chicken Parmigiana

2011-06-19T03:20:00.000-07:00

My version of chicken parmigiana is basically an oven fried/baked herb-crusted chicken with margarita topping (as in the pizza) - fashioned after the Herb Crusted Chicken that they used to serve at Dome Cafe and the Chicken Parmagiana at Ben's General Food Store in Bangsar Village. Adding on the asparagus tips comes entirely from my love of the vegie!

Herb Crusted Chicken with Tomato, Basil and Cheddar Topping - and crowned with asparagus tips

This is a great main to make when entertaining at home. Its scrumptious appearance belies the ease in which chicken parmagiana may be prepared.

My version is more tomato-based and lighter on the cheeses, using cheddar as an alternative to the usual mozzarella and parmesan suspects.

The chicken pieces may be marinated and crumbed ahead of time and kept chilled in the fridge (up till a day ahead). Cooking the chicken pieces half an hour before dinner ensures that chicken is succulent and piping hot when served. Oven frying/baking enables bulk preparation as opposed to pan frying. Quantity is limited to stove and pan capacity, which in turn is ...well... rather limited in the confines of the regular home kitchen.

Ingredients (Serves 8)

For Crumbed Chicken

Arrange the following ingredients in the order above for ease of crumbing
(of course, you've got to lightly whip the eggs and mix up the flour plus the dried herbs)

2 whole chicken thigh fillets and 2 breast meat fillet
(marinate the deboned chicken pieces with 2 tspn of salt)

3 tbsp dried thyme

1 tbsp dried parsley

3/4 cup plain flour

2-3 cups bread crumbs

2 eggs, light beaten

A baking tray (lined with aluminium foil) and brushed with some normal cooking oil

Margarita Sauce Topping
Ready-made/Bottled napoletana tomato sauce
10g sprigs of fresh basil leaves
Grated cheddar cheese
6-8 Asparagus tips
2 medium sized tomatoes, sliced into thin rounds

METHODOLOGY FOR CHICKEN CRUMBING

(1) Lightly dust the both sides of chicken with the evenly combined flour and herb mixture

(2) Quickly coat the floured chicken with the lightly beaten eggs

(3) Drop the chicken into the bread crumb dish. Using your fingers, scoop the crumbs over the chicken. Press crumbs firmly into chicken to ensure that chicken is well crumbed on both sides.

(4) Oil your your roasting tray. Place the chicken into an oiled tray.

Repeat processes (1) till (4) until all the chicken pieces are well crumbed. Chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Crumbed chicken may be prepared ahead of time up to a day ahead before cooking.

COOKING AND ASSEMBLY OF THE CHICKEN

Place your chilled crumb chicken into a preheated oven. Temperature of 200 degrees celsius with fan on for 20 minutes.

Mid way through cooking or when top side of chicken is golden brown, turn the chicken over. Continue to bake for a further 10-15 min before taking chicken out from the oven.

(5) Place the sliced tomatoes on the crispy baked chicken. (At this stage, I'd used a pair of kitchen scissors to snip the chicken into half for smaller individual portions. This way I also get to check to see if the insides of the chicken is fully cooked)

(6) Place the fresh basil leaves over the tomatoes.

(7) Spoon the napoletana/tomato sauce over. Return to the oven for a further 5 minutes to soften the tomato slices.

(8) Take chicken out from the oven, spoon another tbsp of napoletana sauce and sprinkle cheddar cheese onto each chicken parcel.

(9) Crown each parcel with an asparagus tip or two and finish off with some bread crumbs. Return to the oven for the final time for a further 3-5 minutes.

I served my chicken on a bed of aglio olio (garlic coriander, chilli flakes) spaghetti.

This was such a manageable recipe for 8-10 pax (limited only by your oven capacity). With some planning, the entire process was a breeze relative to the tasty and pretty results.

I had also made some salad during the time the chicken was being baked. It was a pea-sprout, cherry tomatoes, mango and carrot salad tossed with some lemon juice and basil-infused olive oil.

Fresh thyme/coriander and whole grained mustard Roast Chicken

2011-06-12T00:44:00.000-07:00

Fresh herb and whole grain mustard roasted chicken. One of the quickest and simplest dinners to prepare. And it's pretty yummy to boot too. The versatility of roast chicken as a main dish is amazing as it goes well with most side accompaniments - salads, vegies, root fibres, rice, almost anything in fact and still tastes great.

There are several variations of roast chicken which I love to prepare. This time around, it was a herb/mustard prep with spinach, red cherry tomatoes and potatoes as sides, all of which was readily available in my refrigerator. My hubs only had to pick up the uncooked, whole bird from the nearest supermarket only 5 minutes away from home.

From the time he got home with the bird, it took less than an hour and a half before the chook was good to eat - 10 mins prepping the uncooked bird, 50 mins roasting time, 5-10 mins to get it table-ready plus 10 mins admin time in between this and that.

Ingredients for Roast Chicken: (serves 4 assuming each person has a quarter of the chicken)

1 fresh, whole chicken (about 1.8 kg)

A fistful of fresh herbs (I used fresh thyme and coriander leaves this time around)

5 pips of garlic, finely chopped

1 and 1/2 tbsp whole grain mustard

2 medium sized onions, cut in half

1-2 tbsp sea-salt for rubbing onto the chicken and cavity of chicken

Some oil for brushing

Methodology:

Clean and dry the bird.
Rub a tbsp of seasalt all over the external skin of the chicken, be sure to cover the thighs and the wings as well. An additional half teaspoon of seasalt goes towards rubbing the insides/cavity of the chicken. Set aside while preparing the herbs and seasoning.

3. Spoon a heaped tbsp of wholegrain mustard into a bowl. Add a tspn of finely minced/chopped garlic plus a fistful of herbs (in this case, it's fresh thyme and fresh coriander sprigs)

4. Finely chop up the fresh herbs and mix well into the mustard/garlic mixture. I just used a pair of kitchen scissors to snip the herbs.

5. Pre-heat your oven at 200 degrees celsius.

6. Hold up the skin at the apex at the bottom of the chicken breast (that bit of exposed meat right above the cavity of the chicken in the pix). With your other hand, carefully insert your fingers between the skin and the breast meat and gently separate the skin from the meat, making sure that the skin doesn't rip.

(Note : Photo was taken after I had stuffed the chicken. Was a bit cumbersome to maneuver the camera while working with soiled hands)

7. Stuff the gap between the breast and skin with the minced herb/garlic and whole grain mustard mixture.

8. Place the halved onions and leftover thyme and coriander leave stems into the cavity of the chicken. Tie up the chicken.

9. Rub leftover herb mixture all over the chicken.

8. Place the chicken breast side down in a roasting dish on top of some potatoes (peeled and quartered/cut into manageable but chunky pieces). Pour 2 tbsp of water into the roasting dish.

10. Pop prepped chicken into the pre-heated oven. Activate fan mode as it circulates the heat for for more even cooking.

11. Remove chicken from the oven after about 25 minutes or when the back-side of the chicken and potatoes are golden brown (shown in the picture)

12. Place a plate under a wire tray and then arrange the half roasted chicken (breast side up) and potatoes (unbrowned side up) over it. (The plate is positioned to catch the chicken drippings on the transfer of the chicken).

13. Brush the breast side of the chicken and the potatoes with some oil

14. Place the entire wire tray with the oiled half roasted chicken and potatoes back onto the roasting dish. Note that this time the chicken is suspended above the roasting dish (which has collected quite a bit of chicken drippings/juices by this time).

15. Add a 2 tbsp of water to the roasting dish. Return the chicken back into the oven for a further 20 minutes.

16. When chicken is done, remove the chicken from the oven. Cover with foil while the chicken is left to sit . This keeps the chicken from drying out.

17. Place the spinach and cherry tomatoes into the roasting dish with the pan juices.

18. Return the roasting dish with the spinach and cherry tomatoes into the oven for a further 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.

(Note : Asparagus and beans are great to use too - quick to cook this way)

19. Pour the remaining pan juices in the roasting dish into a small saucepan.

20. Place saucepan over the stove and let it simmer for a minute. Thicken with either cream or flour.

21. If using flour, mix a heaped teaspoon of flour into 2 tbsp of water first before adding into the sauce pan of chicken drippings/juices. Heat up for about 1-2 minutes until gravy thickens.

22. Cut and remove strings. Carve chicken into quarters.

23. Place a chicken quarter onto a serving plate, arrange the vegetables around it and spoon some gravy/thickened pan drippings over it .

Dinner's ready to be served!

Best Chocolate Ice Cream Ever!

2011-06-04T20:46:00.000-07:00

Creamy and delectable chocolate home-made ice-cream!

I am a stickler for wholesome ingredients. A natural predisposition for a food lover, one could say. So, imagine my horror when I actually read off the label of regular store- bought ice-cream.

Anybody would reasonably think that ice–cream was made from milk, right?

Wrong!

Not only there wasn’t any milk (you can forget cream at this stage) but there was a whole host of stuff and stabilizers that would give your tongue a cramp trying to pronounce them. I would certainly count vague descriptions like “milk derivatives” as being less than wholesome from the real stuff!

Further scrutiny revealed that brands like Haagen Daz, Bulla, Ben and Jerry’s DO actually contain wholesome cream and milk. Noted also the distinctive price premium and superior taste of these ice creams over the regular supermarket types.

So I thought I'd give making my own ice cream a shot using the finest ingredients I could get my hands on. I tried out this ice-cream recipe which came with one of my cooking gadgets - the Thermomix TM31.

Instead of just cocoa, I used a bar of dark belgian chocolate. Also, I reduced the sugar content by 1/3 of the recommended quantity bearing in mind that the sugar in Malaysia seems to be way sweeter compared to the same amount of sugar purchased overseas. Don't know why - just an observation.

So here's the finished product. The best chocolate ice cream ever ! It was such a hit with adults and kids alike. The texture was smooth and creamy with more bite than your regular generic ice cream. To be honest, it costs nearly as much as Ben and Jerry's and Haagen Daz to make at home but hey, I have control over ingredients used and it was absolutely AWESOME!

And to top it all, the ice-cream was extremely easy and fuss-free to make using my Thermomix TM31 (picture shown below). Only took 6 minutes cooking time, 6 hours of freezing, 30 seconds of blending and a further 6 hours of freezing - which means that my active involvement in the entire ice-cream making process was just less than 10 minutes!

CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM RECIPE (Serves 10)

Ingredients :

250 g fresh milk

250 g cream

100 g dark chocolate bar

100 g sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence ( I didn't have vanilla pods with me this time around)

2 egg yolks

Here's how to do it:

Measure your milk, cream and sugar in the TM31 using the inbuilt weighing scale.

Add the egg yolks and vanilla essence.

Set the gadget to cook for 5 minutes at 80 degrees at speed 4. What the gadget does is ensure that the temperature never exceeds 80 degrees while automatically stirring for you. This prevents the mixture from curdling.

For those who prefer to cook manually, you can achieve the same results on the stove by applying indirect heat through "double-boiling", continuous stirring and removing from the heat when necessary to prevent curdling.

Add the dark chocolate and cook for a further 1 minute or until chocolate dissolves.

The custard will look frothy and taste like warm chocolate milkshake at this point.

Pour the mixture into any freezer friendly container for freezing. Cover and pop into the freezer for about 6 hours or until the mixture is semi solid

Cut the frozen custard into blocks for ease of blending later. The frozen custard should be semi solid. (I'd forgotten and left mine in the freezer for a good 8 hours but the results were still great.)

I popped the blocks of frozen custard back into the TM31 and just beat/blended it for 30 seconds at speed 9. (You can also do this manually using a handblender or a cake mixer - the whole idea about this process is just to air or aerate the mixture for that lighter, fluffier texture).

The semi frozen mixture looks thick and creamy at this point.

Pour the aerated mixture into a freezer friendly container, place the lid on and pop it into the freezer for the final time. The ice cream should be ready in 6-8 hours.

I placed mine overnight and it was good to go the next day. Best eaten within a week or 2, I was told. I don't really know first hand as yet - mine disappeared within 2 days :)

One of my friends is going to try this recipe manually (on the stove the traditional way). I'm eager to know the results of her tryst and will certainly note it here when she does.

Lemon Spiced Rice with Grilled Lamb

2011-05-05T04:06:00.000-07:00

I'd invited some old friends over for a little tete-a-tete over dinner on a Sunday evening. All would have been well with the world if my hubs and I had not packed too many things into a day.

If we'd not turned in so late the night before, perhaps we could have woken up at a decent hour for grocery shopping. Instead we found ourselves barely making it in time for my niece's baptism ceremony at 11 am which was followed soon after by a luncheon. When lunch ended, I found myself running back to back with another appointment. My daughter's Music Appreciation workshop!

If I'd not forgotten that it was to take place on that very Sunday itself, I would not have even ambitiously called for dinner guests on a Sunday evening. The good thing about being in motion and at a harried pace too is that there is hardly time to dwell on the "Ifs" and "shouldafs". When all was finally set and done, it was 4.30 pm. Our guests were due at 7 pm and we'd not even shopped for groceries yet!!

Decisions, decisions! I had 2 options at this point : (1) Stubbornly strive for a home-cooked meal; OR (2) Just go out to eat ( as would be the logical thing to do). Our buddies being old chums from way back when wouldn't have minded either way.

In the end, stubbornness prevailed over convenience and this is what we had for dinner!

Lemon spiced rice with grilled lamb chops topped off with a mango salsa and green kiwi and cucumber raita

Not too bad considering that food prep started only at about 6 pm. It's true what they say about necessity being the mother of invention - this simple to do combo would not even have surfaced if I'd not have my back up against the wall. Hooray for rash decisions I say!

First, I marinated some lamb chops with the following ingredients for the BBQ grill. This way I can still cook when the guests arrive. If I'd ever for a second in the past pondered the merits of purchasing a gas fired BBQ set over a charcoal one, well I can say with much conviction after this - Gas fired BBQ set anyday! The convenience and ease of cooking is so so worth it!

Ingredients for Lamb Chops (10 chops) marinate :
1) 1 tbsp black mustard seeds
2) 3 tbsp whole grain mustard (from the bottle)
3) 1 tsp turmeric powder
4) 2 tbsp coriander powder
5) 1 tbsp oil
6) 2 tsp sea salt

I roughly pounded ingredients 1-5 above and mixed in some oil to form a paste. Sprinkled the sea salt over the lamb chops and marinated for as long as possible. Given my circumstances, the chops were marinated for nearly an hour.

When the guests arrived, all I had to do was fire up the grill and grill the lamb chops for about 10 minutes. 5 mins on each side and ready to go.

Lemon Spiced Rice :

For those of us who own rice cookers, you'll have to agree that rice is the easiest to whip up when you're in pressed for time. I thought that lemon spiced rice would certainly spruce things up a little.

Ingredients for Lemon Spiced Rice:
1) 1 3/4 cups of basmati rice
2) 1 tsp of cumin seeds
3) 10 curry leaves (fresh from the garden)
4) 4 cardamom pods
5) 1 cinnamon stick
6) The juice of 1 lemon
7) 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
8) 1 tbsp of butter
9) 1 tbsp of oil
10) 2 cups water
11) Salt to taste

I sauteed cumin seeds, curry leaves, cardamom pods and cinnamon stick in a tablespoon of oil and a teaspoon of butter in a pan. When the sauteed spices releases a fragrance (after 2 -3 minutes), introduce the washed and drained rice into the pan and give a little stir. Add the 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder and the lemon juice (you don't have to use all the lemon juice if you don't want your rice to be too sour - just grate some of the lemon zest in for some lemony flavour) . Add in some salt (I used 1 and a half teaspoons here) to your liking and toss the rice mixture around for 2-3 minutes. Next pour this mixture including the 2 cups of water into an automatic rice cooker and you're set. Rice comes out perfect and you don't have to watch the flames or stand there stirring the pot!

And while the rice was cooking, I found time to quickly chop up some fruits and vegies for a cucumber and kiwi raita and mango salsa which was the perfect accompaniment for this combo.

Note : Recipes for the raita and mango salsa up next.

P/S : No pictures for food prep as I hardly had time to breathe. But this is one combo that I would like to revisit at a more leisurely pace.

Quick and Easy Chicken Pot Pie

2011-03-30T00:09:00.000-07:00

What's quick and easy to cook, yet nutritionally-balanced and yummy to boot? (Operative words being "quick" and "easy") It's chicken pot pie complemented with a salad bed of fresh crisp greens.

It's Chicken Pot Pie complemented with a bed of fresh crisp greens and a glass of fresh kalamansi juice.
(Caveat : You'll need some store bought frozen puff pastry on hand, otherwise, forget about "quick" and "easy"!)

Just the thing when you've got about an hour plus preparation time and expecting some company for a quick lunch. I was looking forward to a lunch visit from my childhood friend and her family who were making a pitstop at my place en-route to Singapore. They were bringing their gorgeous 8-month old twins for their first visit back to her hometown in Ipoh, a town about 2 hours drive north of Kuala Lumpur and were now on their way back to Singapore. As it's a 4 to 5 hour drive south from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore, I didn't want to prepare anything too heavy or loaded with too much carbs out of consideration for the driver. A full belly and heavy lids are not the best combinations for a long, afternoon drive!

The Ingredients (Serves 4)

From top left (clockwise): Swiss button mushrooms and a sprig of fresh thyme, sliced leeks, cubed chicken meat and chopped celery

1 chicken breast meat and 1 whole chicken thigh, deboned and cubed
2 celery sticks
200g fresh swiss brown button mushrooms
2 stalks of leek
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
250 ml of fresh chicken stock
1/3 cup of heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon of fresh thyme
1dried bay leave
Freshly grated black pepper and salt to taste
Grated nutmeg (optional)
1 tablespoon of oil
1 tablespoon of butter (optional)
2 tablespoons of plain flour

Storebought frozen puff pastry sheets (this is why it's quick :))

Methodology in Pictures

First, marinate the cubed chicken pieces with a teaspoon of sea salt and then dust with 2 tablespoons of plain flour

Heat up a pan/wok with a tablespoon of oil and a tablespoon of butter.

When oil/butter is heated up, gently sautee the garlic and chopped leaks for a minute or 2.

Add in the marinated chicken and toss it around with a spatula for a few minutes before including the mushrooms.

Throw in all other ingredients ( you may use any other vegies - carrots, potatoes or peas) . Cook for a few minutes

Include your chicken stock, thyme and bay leave and let stew simmer for a 5-7 minutes. The bay leave and thyme adds a subtle yet aromatic flavor to the dish.

Mix a table spoon of plain flour into 20 ml of water and thicken the stew. Season with salt and black pepper. Grate in some nutmeg .(just a little - less than a pinch). Check for taste.

Include the thickened cream at the end

Remove the bay leave and thyme sprigs. Fill up 4 oven proof ramekins with the chicken stew leaving no less than an inch from the brim of the dish.

Cut squares from your puff pastry sheet large enough to drape over your ramekin as shown in the picture.

Preheat your oven at 200 degrees celsius and bake for 15 minutes or when crust is golden browned and all puffed up.

The finished product ... it's fun as you can dress it up any way you like, with any old salad combinations you like!

Hearty Tomato and Red Pepper Soup

2011-03-08T23:34:00.000-08:00

This preparation is adapted from one of my Family Circle soup books with some infusion from Jaimie Oliver's tomato soup recipe in which he uses roasted red peppers.

I particularly like this version of tomato soup with the roasted peppers as it adds more depth and sweetness into the flavor of the soup as opposed to a straight, direct- in-your-face sour tang you get from using mainly fresh tomatoes. The addition of avocados for that extra creaminess was inspired by the tales of an old friend who had her soup served with sliced avocados in one of her trips to the US.

Coupled with some pesto bread (see http://joopuseats.blogspot.com/2011/01/pesto-bread.html for the pesto bread), this dish makes for a hearty, wholesome meal rich with lycopene and antioxidants.

Recipe (Serves 5-6) :

Ingredients for grilling/roasting (A):-

1 kg of ripe red tomatoes

2 large red capsicums or red peppers

1 bulb of garlic

1 medium size onion

For cooking:

1 dried bay leave

600 ml of chicken stock/broth or vegetable stock/broth

2-3 tablespoons of grapeseed oil or olive oil

For garnishing:

1 ripe avocado

Heavy Cream

The mechanics of it :

1) Coat the ingredients in (A) above in some olive oil and grill in a preheated oven for about 15-20 minutes until it looks like this..

2) The red sweet peppers may be grilled until the skin is black, then placed to rest in a bowl before peeling off the skins, removing the seeds and chopping up the flesh.

3) Remove the skins of the onions and garlic and chop those up too.

4) Place the tomatoes in a bowl and chop them up too using a pair of kitchen scissors (it's less messy this way as opposed to trying to chop them up on a chopping board - and risk splashing the mushy juices everywhere)

5) Warm up a pot with 3 tablespoons of oil, add a pinch of salt and slowly fry the soft pulps of the chopped up roasted garlic, onions and red sweet peppers slowly for about 3 minutes.

6) Then add the roughly chopped up tomatoes and cook until you get a blended mushy mixture.

7) Add the chicken or vegetable broth and a bay leave - simmer for 15 minutes.

8) Season with salt and black pepper to taste.

Remove and discard the bay leave. Blend well with a handblender until desired consistency is achieved. Place unto stove to reheat, taste and season once again if necessary.

Serve with sliced avocados, a twirl of heavy cream and sprinkle generously with some freshly grated black pepper - and voila!

Tip: To prevent the avocados from discoloring, squeeze some lemon over the avocados.

A Cake for Pooi

2011-02-09T06:01:00.000-08:00

A chocolate cake for one of my best childhood friends on her birthday.

It's wholly chocolate, a favorite of most people - and yet not your regular chocolate cake. It's generously bathed in a delicious rich chocolate rum sauce and topped with chocolate curls - with a soft and sweet, golden hazelnut cream centre to boot. A reminiscent of the lovely person that she is, both within and without!

Happy birthday, Pooi - we're packing on the calories on your behalf :)

Duck, Sun-dried Tomatoes and Rocket Leave Pasta Made with Home Roasted Duck

2011-02-06T17:28:00.000-08:00

I've done variations of duck pasta a gazillion times before (using store bought roasted duck or home prepared duck parts) but this is the first time that I've roasted a whole duck at home. And it was brilliant! Especially so when the pasta was flavored with the juices and drippings from the roasting duck.

Pasta tossed with slices of roast duck, sun-dried tomatoes, oven roasted garlic, caramelized onions, sauteed mushrooms and rocket leaves - all bathed in natural juices and drippings from the duck

The sudden burst of inspiration to roast my own duck at home was largely motivated by (1) an italian dinner to celebrate my birthday during which the subject of a certain dear friend's infamous crispy duck recipe kept creeping up and (2) an email thread amongst another group of friends (who are self proclaimed "foodies") during which various mouthwatering techniques of duck preparation was brought up. All during the same week. Not one to believe in frivolous coincidences ... that could only mean 1 thing for me. We were having home roasted duck this weekend!

I purchased a 3 kg duck from the market. Stuffed it, steamed it and roasted it. For the pasta, I cut up some sun-dried tomatoes, prepared some caramelised onions and roasted garlic, and sauteed some button mushrooms before tossing them all together with the duck drippings and some rocket leaves.

Illustration in pictures as follows:-

I started off by roughly chopping up some coriander roots, a stick of celery, an inch of lemon grass, some stalks of spring onions and a knob of smashed ginger root.

I stuffed the cavity of the duck with the above-mentioned chopped ingredients mixed with a generous sprinkling of seasalt. Also rubbed sea salt all over the exterior of the duck.

Using a wooden satay stick, I threaded the cavity of the duck shut trapping the stuffings within. Next, I rubbed some oyster sauce and paprika powder all over the exterior of the duck. It went back into the fridge for a good 2 hours to allow for the marinade to seep in a little.

After marinating, I placed the duck in a round stainless steel pan (to catch the juices while steaming) and placed the duck into a wok steamer to steam for an hour

When the hour of steaming was up, I removed the duck onto a plate to brush a mixture of teriyaki sauce, honey and some mustard onto the skin of the duck. The juices and drippings of the duck which collected in the stainless steel pan during the steaming process was set aside for later use as stock for the pasta. (My daughter helped herself with the wings of the steamed duck which accounts for the missing limbs in the picture above)

Before placing the duck on a rack atop my roasting pan, I placed a garlic bulb with the top lobbed off and 2 onions which were finely sliced underneath the duck. I sprinkled about a teaspoon of sugar onto the sliced onions and spooned some duck oil (from the drippings collected from the steaming process earlier) onto the garlic and onions.

Roast the duck topside up first in a preheated oven at 220 degrees celsius for about 15 minutes before turning the duck over for roasting for another 15 minutes.

When duck is done roasting, remove from oven. Use a spatula to squeeze the soft roasted flesh out from its roasted garlic bulb.

Ingredients for the pasta : In a wok (on the left), I sauteed about 200g of sliced button mushrooms in some duck oil and stock. On the right, is the roasting pan with the duck drippings, plus chopped up sundried tomatoes (from top left corner), the squeezed out garlic pulp (in the middle) and the roasted caramelised onions (right of the pan)

While the duck was roasting in the oven I had prepared about 350g of pasta in salted boiling water with a teaspoon of oil in it, drained it and set aside for later use. Once all the ingredients in the above picture was ready to use, proceeded to toss thr spaghetti into the wok with the sauteed mushrooms in it plus all the other ingredients seen in the rectangle pan above. Season with the duck drippings/juices from the steaming process earlier, seasalt and freshly grated black pepper to taste. (Pour in 1/3 cup of white wine if you have any on hand , does wonders to the taste). When the pasta is nicely coated with just the right amount of stock and nicely tossed and mixed through, turn off the fire and throw in the rocket leaves (also known as arugula leaves) to the party.

Serve the pasta immediately with slivers of deboned roasted duck on the sides. Goes well with a sprinkling of chilli flakes too.

My Favorite Version of Mushroom Soup

2011-01-31T20:07:00.000-08:00

An all time favorite with both my kids (and a number of my friends too ). And I am more than happy to make this soup once a week as its packed with nutrition, vitamin Bs and dietary fibre. It's tasty, quick and easy to make (under 30 minutes if you've got a handheld blender) and a whole load of fun for my daughter (who'd don her chef costume and help with the cutting of the mushrooms (with a plastic knife of course)).

So what would you need for an earthy, thick and grainy mushroom soup that's packed with goodies:-

250 g fresh white button mushrooms, sliced

250 g fresh swiss brown mushrooms, sliced

100 g fresh shitake mushrooms, sliced

1 medium size onion, finely chopped

1 small potato (or 100 g cubed potato)

1 tablespoon salted butter

750-800 ml of chicken broth

2 bay leaves

A pinch of thyme ( dried or fresh is fine)

Salt and black pepper to taste
Grated nutmeg

250 ml Thick Cream

Parsley and croutons for garnishing

(Serves 5-6)

Swiss brown mushrooms, white button mushrooms, half a large onion and potato

Clockwise from 12 o'clock : Black pepper, nutmeg, dried fresh thyme, bay leaves

A 4 year old who'd provide some kitchen assistance

What do you do with the ingredients?

1. Sautee the finely chopped onions in a tablespoon or more of butter until onions are soft and translucent.
2. Throw in the sliced mushrooms and cubed potatoes and continue to sautee for about 2-3 minutes.
3. Pour in the chicken broth and the 2 bay leaves and simmer for about 10-15 minutes
4. Season with salt and black pepper and a a pinch of thyme (for those who insist on some kind of quantification, i would say less than 1/8 of a teaspoon of thyme)
5. Remove bay leaves and blend with your handheld blender until fine or to the consistency desired
6. Taste and add more salt and pepper to your liking.
7. Grate some nutmeg in and taste again (do not over do the nutmeg - just less than a pinch will do)
8. Reheat gently, turn off the fire and pour in a half cup of cream (or slightly more depending on how creamy you like your soup).
9. Serve in bowls and garnish with some cream, croutons and parsley for that "finished" look (illustrated below)

Flavors of the earth in a bowl... Enjoy!!

Shepherd's Pie .. the kind with vegies in it

2011-01-22T01:00:00.000-08:00

How do you get kids (and ahem [*cough cough*], certain adults too) to eat these vegetables?

EXHIBIT A : Colon friendly fibre which would do your doctor proud

You disguise it! ... In a meaty shepherd's pie with creamy mash potatoes - the stuff that men and kids can live on indefinitely. Some stealth is sometimes justified for the greater good ;P

EXHIBIT B : The shepherd's pie for the serving

So how do we get from Exhibit A (the sliced vegies above) to Exhibit B (the meaty carbo concoction that will have your kids and your man begging for more) without raising too much of a suspicion?

First, we'll roast it and and then roughly chop it up beyond recognition.

Sprinkle some sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and some oil over the vegies and roast it for about 15 minutes in the oven at 180 degrees celsius

Add caption

I used a pair of kitchen scissors to quickly chop up the roasted vegies

The shepherd's pie is relatively easy and quick to prepare with some planning and multi-tasking involved. While the vegies were roasting in the oven, I boiled the potatoes on the stove while cooking my meat filling. Halfway through simmering the meat filling, I added the chopped up, roasted vegies and cooked for a further 5 minutes. This is when you adjust the seasoning of salt, black pepper and the moisture level to your liking.

Lay the meat filling with the incorporated vegies out on an oven dish.. the great thing about aubergines and zucchini is that they just disappear into the dish.

Time to attend to the potatoes, which should be fork tender by now.

I usually just drain the potatoes, throw them into my cake mixer with the milk, butter, salt and pepper and process. It's fluffy, mashed potatoes within 3 minutes.

Layer the mash potatoes onto pie filling

Use a fork to create those lines and sprinkle with some mozzarella (and parmesan if you wish) and pop it into the oven for 10-15 minutes at 180 degrees celsius or until it nicely browned.

Ingredients used for this dish:

To roast and then chop

1 brinjal or aubergine

1 celery stick

1 carrot

(zucchini would be good too but I didn't have it on hand this time around to replace the celery - in fact you can put any vegies you want. Caveat - avoid strong smelling, difficult to camouflage stuff like cabbage, brocolli which may just alter the taste of the pie filling )

Time : 15 minutes at 180 degrees celsius with circulation fan on

The Meat filling:

350 g of minced beef/ lamb

300 g of ready made tomato pasta sauce or ragu sauce (those bottled tomato pasta sauce are a great convenience - you can use napoletana, mushroom, basilico and so on)

2 bay leaves

1 whole fresh tomato, quartered

Sautee the mince meat in some oil together with the bay leaves and quartered tomatoes. Throw in the pasta sauce and allow to simmer. Incorporate the abovementioned roasted vegies. Season to taste.

The Mashed Potato Topping

Mash the following

550 g of boiled and cooked russet potatoes

100 g of fresh milk

A dollop of butter

Salt and pepper to taste

The Assembly of the Dish

Lay out your pie filling in an oven-proof dish. Remember to remove your bay leaves before putting on your mash potato layering

For sprinkling during baking:

Grated mozzarella cheese and a pinch of grated nutmeg seed

(Tip : Adjust the moisture level of the pie filling by adding more tomato sauce, making sure there is some gravy in it. Same goes for the mashed potatoes, add more milk or cream if necessary for the right amount of moisture. You don't want your pie to dry out during the baking process.)

Pesto Bread

2011-01-15T17:28:00.001-08:00

How would you like to make a journey of gastronomical indulgence, spiritual discovery and self examination around the world from Italy, across India all the way to Bali, Indonesia? That's what American author Elizabeth Gilbert did in her memoirs "Eat, Pray and Love", a book which I was reading the 2nd time through before attempting to watch the movie. (That's me - I like to read the novel before watching any novel-based movie, even if that means re-reading the book. The same happened for the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S Lewis - I'd read all 7 books when I was about 10. But when the first book was adapted to the big screen some years back, I found myself scrambling to re-read the books 25 over years later. Let's just put it to individual "quirkiness" and leave it at that :)

Anywayz... halfway through the book while following Elizabeth through her journey across Italy where she learnt a new language, got acquainted with a young Italian stud and savored the best and also simplest of Italian foods, I had this craving for pesto. Without further thought, I googled "pesto bread" on my I-Pad. . .and chanced upon this wonderful blog by Chuck and Angela with the most delicious looking breads www.thekneadforbread.com

I realised that I had all the ingredients required. There were "how to" step by step instructions which were easy to follow- http://www.thekneadforbread.com/2009/11/08/pesto-bread/.

3 hours later, behold the home-made pesto bread. I omitted the parmesan in the recipe as i figured that it might be a little strong tasting for my kids.

The bread was perfect - crusty on the outside and soft and savoury on the inside

My home smelled heavenly with the scent of herby, freshly-made bread. I resumed my reading with a cup of tea and a slice of hot-from-the-oven pesto bread in hand. It was completely a different experience the 2nd time around!

Fish Head Bee Hoon or Fish Head Rice Vermicelli

2011-01-11T03:49:00.000-08:00

One of my favourite hawker dishes! It's basically a bowl of vermicelli rice noodles cooked in a savory broth and topped off with pieces of deep fried fish fillet or chunks of deep fried fish head. What gives the broth a piquant sourish-sweetish type flavor which leaves one wanting for more after the last drop of broth is spent, is the combined use of fresh ginger slices, tomato wedges and slivers of chinese pickled/salted mustard green in the cooking of the soup. The dish is usually finished off with freshly chopped cilantro and some garlic oil/sesame seed oil for that extra aroma. Simply delightful!

This is how I like my bowl of fish head bee hoon - Loaded with deep fried fish
and generously garnished with fried garlic bits!

My only grouse with hawkers is that they tend to load up on the carbos (lots of noodles) and pay sparse attention to most everything else. My inner female loves me some vegies and there never seems to be enough to go around. I'd be happy to pay for extra tomatoes, more spring onions, more chopped cilantro .. the list continues. And oh, definitely more deep fried fish chunks! But there seems to be this serious expectation gap between one and these said hawkers over the word "extra".

Inevitably this led to a fish head bee hoon "diyah" (do-it-yourself-at-home) mission on a Sunday morning (must say it did take me almost the whole morning to get it ready in time for lunch). Keeping in mind the taste I'd like to arrive at, I basically cook instinctively - adding, subtracting and tasting as I go along. Hence, I don't have exact measurements of the stuff that goes into the meal. However, I firmly believe you cannot go wrong when you use fresh, quality ingredients, and sufficient amounts of it in preparing your meal.

I started off by making sure I had some good, fresh chicken stock made from simmering chicken and chicken bones in a stock pot (chicken stock cubes just will not do for the kids).

Good old fashion chicken stock with a knob of ginger in it

Next I prepared some tomato wedges, ginger slices, a bunch of 1 inch-long spring onions lengths, sprigs of cilantro leaves, fresh tofu cubes and finely sliced pickled chinese mustard greens. Must not forget the home made fried garlic bits in garlic oil which can be pre-prepared (Garlic oil is a kitchen staple as far as I am concerned - ever ready to be used as garnishing for many a dish) and the chinese wine

That little jar of oil towards the bottom right corner is the garlic oil with fried garlic bits in it
- something I keep perpetually handy in the kitchen

Next I salted and then coated about 3 kgs of kurau and garoupa fish head chunks and fish fillets with a mixture of plain wheat flour, corn flour and rice flour. The addition of corn flour and rice flour gives the fish pieces a longer lasting crispiness when fried.

Deep-fried fish fillet and fish head which is still juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside

Once all the preparation of ingredients is completed, we can embark on the "assembly" of the fish head bee hoon which entailed the following steps :

1) In a saucepan, sautee some ginger slices in a tspn of oil and a dash of sesame seed oil

2) When the sauteed ginger starts giving off the loveliest fresh aroma, ladle the chicken broth into the pan.

3) Throw in the pickled/salted vegies and tomato wedges at this stage giving it some 4-5 minutes simmering time to ensure that the flavours are infused into the broth.

4) Next in is the rice vermicelli/noodles/bee hoon and tofu cubes.

5) Season with salt and a dash of fish sauce to suit your taste. Instead of putting evaporated milk from the can like they usually do at the stalls, I used fresh Australian full cream milk instead. If desired, including a tablespoon of chinese wine at this stage is good too.

6) When rice vermicelli is soft enough. Throw in a handful of spring onions and remove from stove immediately.

7) Place in bowls and garnish with the cilantro leaves, fried garlic in oil and the deep fried fish pieces.

Garnish with cilantro leaves and more spring onions, if desired

Place the deep fried fish pieces to sit pretty right on top

Ready for the eating

Quest for the perfect cheesecake

2011-01-07T07:35:00.000-08:00

Perfection, like beauty, lies in the eyes or rather palate of the beholder! Just like 'one man's meat is another's poison' or 'one man's junk is another's treasure' or 'to each, his own' (I'm a stickler for proverbs as you may be able to tell by now - my father would have been proud :P). While commonality brings oneness of mind, differences and diversity makes the world a more interesting place.

And such it is with cheesecakes too. Diversity in palate preferences has given rise to the creation of myriads of cheesecake. Some like their cheesecakes rich, creamy and dense while others prefer the lighter, moist but still creamy versions. And some others are partial to the even lighter and more airy Japanese cheesecakes which has somewhat of a spongelike texture. And I'm only still referring to texture here. What about topping options or flavor choices? What about the hybrids like the chocolate brownie cheesecake or the choc mouse and cheese? The truth is we're spoiled for choice when it comes to cheesecakes. And I for one am grateful for that!

A walk down cheesecake memory lane - in pictures:

The very first cheesecake I made with my little girl. It's a rich, creamy and dense cheesecake topped off with fresh strawberries and blueberries.

This cheesecake is of a lighter texture but still creamy and moist, as I used a combination of sour cream plus philladelphia cheese for the filling

A moist creamy cheesecake with freshly made blueberry sauce and freshly whipped cream . I made this when I had some friends over for a Christmas party.

A chocolate brownie cheesecake for one of the BBQ dinners hosted in my house for some buddies

Vietnamese Beef Pho

2011-01-05T07:51:00.000-08:00

It has been some months since I visited the local night market (known commonly as "pasar malam" in my part of the world) . An ever- ready trooper for street food, I enjoy the sights, smells and buzz of the night market every bit as much as I love the finesse, intricacy and richness of fine dining.

Last Sunday, I decided to lug the family to the Taman Tun night market with the intention of (1) exposing my 16-month old to unfamiliar sights and sounds (which is, as I've been duly advised by scores of childcare literature, most beneficial for the mental development of an infant /todder); (2) re-acclimatizing my 4 year old who's beginning to enjoy the comforts of upmarket al-fresco dining a wee bit too much; and (3) satisfying the old craving (which occasionally presents itself) of "assam laksa by the roadside".

What caught my eye instead was this lovely rack of fresh beef ribs and bones (with just the right amount of meat and cartilage attached to it) being chopped up by the Indian butcher. What leapt to mind was a bowl of piping hot and steaming vietnamese beef pho.

So to cut a long story short, here's that piping hot and steaming vietnamese beef pho which we enjoyed for dinner 3 days later :)

I added prime sirloin strips to the pho - pink perfection just how I like it.

My dear hubby loved it and thought it was a lot of work. The secret to good pho really lies in the broth. And since good broth is the derivation of ample quality ingredients for a wholesome, tasty stock PLUS sufficient simmering time, it really was not that much of work or time tied in the kitchen.

First, I threw the beef and bones in a wok of boiling water for a few minutes . The parboiled beef/bones is then submerged in a pot of clean cool water to get the broth started. This gets rid of the scum that arises in the parboiling process which would otherwise cloud the broth.

Next, I grilled some ginger and 3 large onions which I had lightly brushed with oil. This gives further depth to the flavour of the broth.

Next, I put the above spices and condiments into a muslin bag. They include a cinnamon stick, some coriander seeds, white pepper seeds, fennel seeds, a couple of cardamon pods, a few cloves and a few bits of star anise.

I dumped all the above plus some rock sugar, a tablespoon of salt and a few dashes of fish sauce into the pot of water with beef/bones in it to begin broth. Simmered the broth for about 2 hours plus.

I garnished my bowl of flat rice noodles in piping hot beef broth with a generous sprinkling of finely chopped spring onions and cilantro leaves, threw in some thinly sliced strips of sirloin (which I was careful not to overcook) and prepared the usual side combo of raw bean sprouts, mint and basil leaves with some lemon wedges (a typical accompaniment to this dish). And voila, the vietnamese beef pho is ready to be served.

A Cake for Sharon

2011-01-04T00:23:00.000-08:00

25 years is a long time for anything. To commemorate a friendship that has spanned the years as well as geographical continents, here's a cake for Sharon on her birthday!

A fruity pavlova for you, girl!

Hope you enjoy the pix as much as I had making the cake and then eating it :).

Ho Ho Ho ... Burp!

2010-12-26T01:00:00.000-08:00

Christmas is a time for family and friends. Christmas is a time for celebration. For me personally, Christmas is a great reason to cook ... for what better joy than to have people you love congregate to enjoy the fruits of your labour of love!

Japanese inspired shrimp hors d' oeuvre

Garlic croutons - the kids love to help out with these

Pumpkin soup

Thyme Mustard Garlic Roasted Chicken stuffed with onions

Hot and Smouldering BBQ Baby Back Ribs

Creamy pesto prawn and squid pasta - I wasn't in time with my handy camera before it was nearly finished

Caesar salad with home made dressing and an overload of pan fried bacon bits

A lightweight tiramisu - one that's kinder to the waistline

A slice of tiramisu heaven

Tis the season to be jolly

2010-12-23T18:57:00.000-08:00

Christmas .. a time to be jolly indeed. There is much ado amongst the little ones in putting up the Christmas decorations, wrapping of gifts and baking of cakes. By little ones, i mean my 7 year old niece, 6 year old nephew and 4 year old daughter. Fine with me as it makes convenient holiday activities for the kids instead of having their eyes glued to the tv and heads bent over the i-pad all day long.

Much as I say Christmas is for the children, their enthusiasm was so catching that it rubbed off on me in all the right ways. So we trotted out to get some simple santa pieces to dress up the stairs as well.

Crooked is in.. :)

Christmas colors complement the warm colors of my existing wall paintings

Going Indian

2010-09-29T09:20:00.000-07:00

I love ALL food. It's no exaggeration as I cannot think of anything that i don't really like - off the top of my head that is. (Maybe if i thought really hard I could come up with a thing or two which does not appeal to the tastebuds .. hmmm, nada!). But if I were made to choose my top 3 favorites, I'd have to say Indian cuisine is at the top of the list, with Italian and Thai, very, very close seconds.

My favorite Indian joints range from the common banana leaf meal to north indian or punjabi fine dining. Love them all. The simple tangy fish curry to the rich spicy creaminess of of murg muglai.

So to celebrate my love for indian cuisine, this Chinese girl over here decided to invite some friends over for an Indian themed BBQ, starting with the slow cooked rotating BBQ tandoori chicken below. I thought a green apple, cucumber and tomato raita would be a great accompaniment to the dish.

For carbs, I made a pot of briyani rice. Since I have a 4 year old daughter who is just only taking to spicy food, I figured a mild curry like chicken khurma would be appropriate. To further indulge my daughter, I dressed up some sliced strawberries with some balsamic vinegar and a sprinkling of chopped mint leaves and cumin seeds in keeping with the Indian theme. So there you have it, a home cooked Indian meal in a Chinese Malaysian household.

Chicken marinated with tandoori seasoning

Fluffy and spicy briyani rice

Strawberry, red onions, mint and cumin seeds with a dash of balsamic vinegar

Green apple, cucumber and tomato raita ... a refreshing accompaniment for the briyani

Chicken kurma