skip to main |
skip to sidebar
A follower of my blog asked if I've been fasting.
Sorry for not blogging.
Most would have known, my dearest Power Mac G5, which has served me well for some time, went dead on me about 1 month ago. High time to upgrade.
Finally, I'm back on track with a high drool factor 2.93GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 24" iMac.
So, what's cooking?
This was what I've attempted in the kitchen last Saturday.
Thai-style Grilled Chicken
Ingredients:
4 chicken thighs
1 lime
a few lemon grass to garnish
Marinade:
1 lemon grass stalk, chopped
1" piece fresh root ginger
4 garlic cloves
2 shallots
1/2 bunch coriander roots
1/2 tbsp palm sugar
1/3 cup coconut milk
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
Steps:To prepare the marinade, process ingredients with a food processor until smooth.
Marinade the chicken for at least 4 hours, or preferably overnight.
Grill the chicken at 200ºC for about 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked and golden brown, turning the pieces occasionally and brushing with the marinade.
(The chicken will taste better if it was barbecued)
Garnish with lime wedges and lemon grass.My friends love it to the bone.
T and I attempted to make some more interesting buns on our own. The recipe can be found in the entry I made earlier.
As I was mixing the dough with my Philips electric hand mixer, I couldn't help but think of W's beautiful retro-looking KitchenAid Stand Mixer. What's more, it's the one in my favourite colour! Anyway, she suggested we should bake some buns together at her place some day. Why would I say no? I'd love to feature her Kitchen's talk piece, and replace those unattractive step-by-step pictures of mine.
Back to my under-equipped kitchen, somehow the buns were not as soft as the previous time. Maybe I didn't add sufficient water (as I didn't want it to be dense the next day), maybe I baked it for too long (as I didn't want them to be burnt and placed the tray at the lowest deck). Maybe, maybe. Maybe I need more practice. :(
Anyway, they were still soft and tasted as good when eaten hot. And they do look good too. :P
Otah Cheese. Remember to coat the bun with egg yolk before adding the toppings(shredded cheddar cheese and parsley).
These are pork floss buns with spring onions. Simply spread some mayonnaise and pork floss on dough, add some spring onions and roll. Top it with spring onions to decorate. Toppings can be good for identification if your buns are sealed and identical.
I sprinkled some Italian herbs and garlic powder on the dough before adding the ham and cheese. Spring onion goes really well with this flavour too.
I'm thinking mushroom and onions will be nice too. Ham and potato. Bacon and tomato... There are just too many ideas, too little dough. Just step into Breadtalk or Four Leaves, you'll be inspired.
I even cooked my own curry chicken and potato filling. :)
Thinking that the baking will add to the cooking time, I didn't fry the potatoes till they were mushy. I was wrong. :(
As I was pretty slow, my family and I ended up having bread for dinner instead of tea break. I definitely need more practice. And a electronic weighing scale and stand mixer. 3 days to X'mas. :P
M, I'll make some specially for you next round because you'll never get to taste them with my big family (with huge appetite). Oh, don't forget the haebeehiam!
Jamie Oliver is my dream guy! Not only is he cute, he's a great cook. But come to think of it, I actually don't need my guy to whip up a meal for me because I find cooking therapeutic and I enjoy cooking for my loved ones(just like Oliver!). As long as he can wash the dishes after the meal, I think that is good enough. Haha! I'd love to have a fully equipped kitchen like Oliver's and a backyard to grow my own herbs. Right now, I can only make do with Mum's kitchen and McCormick's herbs. Those fresh ones are not easily available and can be really expensive! :(
Anyway, I got Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food from K as my early X'mas present(actually I requested for it). :P I can't wait to try making paella, a cracking burger, perfect roast chicken, baked cod wrapped in bacon with rosemary, baked french potatoes, baked camembert pasta and many many more! *drools*
This book contains a range of simple recipes and is actually inspired by people Oliver has met who thought they could never and would never learn how to cook. Regardless, this book is for a reluctant beginner as well as a good cook who just appreciates simplicity. Why Ministry of Food? It's a food movement called pass it on which Oliver has started. "On the surface it's quite simply about friends teaching friends how to cook good, honest, affordable food and just generally be a bit more streetwise about cooking." To learn more, buy a copy and pass it on! ;)
My friend and I stopped by Jones The Grocer for tea break after visiting an art flea market organised by House some time back. I'm still planning to go back there for breakfast and free coffee as L promised. :P
Anyway, this lemon tart by Gordon Ramsay was really good. It was sweet and zingy. Melts in your mouth... and very fattening. But who cares when heavenly temptations like this can de-stress you like no other.
Entering a bakery is very much like shopping in a fashion boutique these days. Bread of all attractive shapes, designs, flavours and even names. One is really spoiled for choice. Even our neighbourhood bakeries no longer offer regular buns at $0.40 each. That is also why whenever my friends and I are around Upper Thomson, Whampoa or Serangoon Gardens area, we never hesitate to drop by the traditional confectionery for some nostalgic taste of yesterday. As T loves local bread, and with our failed attempt two years back, we decided to pick up bread-making from my cousin who is a great baker.
Ingredients for dough:
480g bread flour
120g plain flour
130g fine sugar
10g fine salt
20g milk powder
11g yeast
1 egg yolk
60g butter
300ml water (chilled overnight)
Directions: Combine bread flour, plain flour, sugar, salt, milk powder and yeast in a mixing bowl.
Add beaten egg yolk and butter and mix well, breaking up lumps.
Add water slowly until dough becomes smooth and elastic.
Coat table top and hands with bread flour.
Divide dough into small portions (depending on size of bun you desire).
Use a roller to flatten dough to form an elongated shape.
Place ingredient(can be raw) at the edge of dough and wrap it up by rolling.
Let them stand for an hour, covering with a damp cloth.
Brush egg yolk on bread and bake in oven at about 150ºC for about 20-30mins or until brown.
Quickly brush butter on buns when they are ready.
Otah, ham & cheese, luncheon meat and hotdog! Life's simple pleasure. Best served warm!
If you prefer to feast your eyes with fancier buns, feel free to use the same dough recipe and create your own. I'm so going to make my own curry buns the next time round. And definitely other prettier ones because it was really fun. :D
By the way, the otah filling is from from Muar, which I will blog about, later. :)
This is a recipe for pork roast I adapted and improvised from Betty Crocker's Best of Baking. As I'm quite selective when it comes to pork dishes, I choose to substitute the roast with chicken. It tasted equally good, I imagined. Well, what it matters is it's good enough for him. :)
Ingredients:
chicken thighs
salt
black pepper
cooking wine
margarine
olive oil
rosemary
garlic (finely chopped)
onion (finely chopped)
Steps:
Make a few cuts in chicken thighs with a sharp knife.
Season with salt, black pepper and wine.
Mix rosemary with garlic.
Insert garlic mixture in cuts.
Melt margarine in shallow roasting pan in oven and sprinkle with onions.
Place chicken thighs in pan and drizzle with olive oil.
Bring to heat at 180ºC for 40 minutes.
The must-order dish when I step into a Thai restuarant got to be Tom Yam Soup. In fact, that's the first thing most will name when Thai food is mentioned.
The best Tom Yam Soup I've tried so far is from Renn Thai in Ngee Ann City many many years back. It was the authentic clear soup base kind unlike those super oily and cloudy Tom Yam Soup you get from food court. The food was pretty pricey according to my paycheck back then, so I didn't go back again. And along the way, I discovered Simply Thai. The Tom Yam Soup was just as good, although with lesser ingredients, was much more affordable. After a few good years, Simply Thai disappeared! But I found Thai Express along with some super nice ex-colleagues. :) The sliced fish tom yam soup with vermicelli is so spicy and good you'll be lost for words.
And now when I've time, I make my own. Here's a Tom Yam Goong recipe I got from a cookbook of popular Thai dishes. Tried and tested. You will be surprised how easily you can spice up your life.
Looks can be deceiving for this harmless looking soup will burn your tongue! :P
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
450g king prawns
1 litre chicken stock
3 lemon grass stalks
10 lime leaves, torn in half
225g can straw mushrooms, drained
3 tbsp fish sauce
50ml lime juice
chopped spring onions and coriander leaves
red chillies, chopped
Steps:
Shell and devein the prawns
Rinse the prawn shells, place them in large saucepan with stock and bring to boil. I added an additional cup of water and a few prawn heads. Too many will make the soup taste fishy.
Bruise the lemon grass stalks with knife and add them to the stock together with the lime leaves. Simmer gently for 5 minutes or until stalks change colour and is fragrant.
Strain the stock, return to saucepan and reheat. Add mushrooms and prawns. Cook for a few minutes or until prawns turn pink.
Stir in fish sauce, lime juice, spring onions, coriander and chillies. Taste and adjust the flavours if you prefer it spicier, saltier or more sourish.
You know those roasted black pepper and honey glazed chicken you can get from the hot deli corner of Cold Storage? They aren't gourmet food but may not be a bad choice if you want to pack a simple dinner home from the mall and do not feel like fast food.
My own version of the roasted black pepper chicken is very simple. Tasty and juicy but not as oily. Good as a marinate for BBQ wings and whole spring chicken too if your oven has the rotisserie function.
Ingredients:
chicken thighs
dash of salt
cooking wine
dash of light soya sauce
oyster sauce
dark soya sauce for colour
McCormick coarse black pepper
McCormick Italian Herbs or MasterFoods Mixed Herbs
Steps:
Season the chicken with the ingredients in that particular order for at least two hours, if not overnight. Cover the chicken with black pepper generously. I will sprinkle extra rosemary on top of the mixed herbs. On a separate note, it'll taste just as good with only rosemary, that is of course if you like the distinctive taste of rosemary.
If you're using wings, just cook them in the oven at about 175ºC for 15 minutes and grill them for another 5 mintues or until brown. Coat the wings with the remaining marinate on and off.
If you're using the whole drum with thigh, wrap it up in aluminum foil and pour in all the marinate. Cook it for 20 minutes at about 200ºC. Open it up and grill it for 5-10 minutes or until brown.
If you're cooking the whole chicken, stuff some garlic and herbs in the chicken. Read the oven instruction manual for cooking time and temperature.
Drizzle the remaining gravy on the chicken and serve hot with rice or baked potato.
I've been wanting to make my own burger since C gave me the link to his friend's blog. An ugly burger recipe. Since I've been burger hunting lately, I am very keen to make a burger from scratch. And I'm glad I did because it was definitely worth my time. Yes, like he said, it was darn good. Just that mine wasn't as ugly. :P
I never really measure when I cook just like keongzai. So with his recipe, I guesstimated the portions of ingredients he stated. I'll just copy the basic steps over just in case he deletes his blog. But do hop over to his blog and read his interesting burger rules which I followed readily.
Ingredients to make 4 patties:
400gms of topside steak, pulsed in food processor
dash of salt
dash of black pepper
dash of ground cumin
dash of ground coriander seeds
half teaspoon of mustard powder
half an onion (sauté with olive oil)
handful of grated parmesan cheese
half cup of breadcrumbs
1 egg
Patty:
Mix everything together with half of the breadcrumbs, adding more if mixture is too wet. The egg binds the mixture, and the breadcrumbs absorbs some liquid if it’s too wet. Fashion thick patties, dust it with breadcrumbs and fridge it for at least 20 minutes. This allows the flavors to get to know each other and for the patty to hold its shape. Fry it in pan with olive oil. Don’t overcook, it’s not sexy.
Buns:
Lightly butter the buns and toast them.
Toppings:
Sauté fresh (shitake or white) mushrooms and onions with butter. Egg is optional.
This looks pretty decent, isn't it? It's topped with mushrooms, sauté onions, fried egg, tomatoes and lettuce.
Some like the lot.
Some like it topless.
I like it with fresh onions!
Be it red or yellow.
And I also like my beef to be slightly rare.
I bet it's better than the burger E claimed her bf can make! Haha!
P/S: I'd like to thank keongzai for the wonderful recipe and P for helping me with super-marketing and eating. :P
All my friends know curry puff is my all-time favourite snack. Whenever I passed by a stall that sells curry puffs, I never resisted. Personally, I find Old Chang Kee, too "chanky", Tanglin Curry Puffs too bland and Tip Top Curry Puffs too sweet. Polar Puffs is spicy but a tad too sweet for my taste buds and the skin is puff pastry. I do like puff pastry but I prefer it when I'm eating chicken pie. And the filling is all mashed up such that you don't really taste the potatoes but minced meat. The Malay Curry Puffs 93 didn't impress me. 1A Curry Puffs which is available at quite a few places kind of satisfies my crave every now and then. I like the feeling when the piping hot moist filling oozes out as I sink my teeth into the melt-in-your-mouth buttery crispy skin. Heaven...
The one I can't take my mind off is from a stall at East Coast Lagoon Food Village. I've only tasted them once or rather twice when I was staying at the chalet. They were so good that I had to revisit to buy more on the second day of my stay. It is the traditional kind filled with chunks of chicken and potatoes. Rich yet not "gelak". But East Coast Park is so inconvenient and I'm too lazy to make a trip down specially for that. I wonder if the stall is still there. Maybe I should check it out soon. Of course there are more less popular ones which I've tried but the taste failed to linger in my mouth or my memory.
Just a few nights ago, my good friend who is never absent when there's good food, sent me a link to a Hokkien Prawn Mee recipe. He was trying to coax me into cooking that for him. Instead, this curry puff recipe caught my eyes and I was very inspired to give it a shot. So, I roped him in to try it out the very next day.
I did not follow the steps exactly. For instance, I omitted the sugar and added an extra teaspoon of chilli powder and salt to suit my taste. I used chicken fillet instead of breast meat as they are more tender according to mum. I diced the potatoes and steamed them for 15 minutes as it sped up the process. You may want to add water when the ingredient becomes dry when frying, which I did.
It turned out that the fillings wasn't spicy enough despite the extra chilli powder I added.
I did not go with the easy way out by using frozen puff pastry as I prefer the traditional skin. Wrapping wasn't as easy as I thought. My friend's curry puffs turned out looking like huge dumplings.
They didn't look too bad considering it was my first attempt.
The filling wasn't moist enough after they were deep-fried and the skin was a bit too thick.
Yes! I added a wedge of egg if you can spot that!
I rationalised that it's really not easy to make good curry puffs. The filling is as difficult compared to making the skin from scratch. So if you know anywhere else that sells tasty curry puffs, I'll appreciate if you leave me a comment. :)
(I promised to cook him the hokkien prawn mee soon.)
