Showing posts from July, 2009

Feta tomato sandwich

July 24, 2009
We called this 'Fet Tom' Sandwich... The salty taste of Feta Cheese with the sourish taste of sundried tomatoes is so beautiful..... Its not difficult to assemble... baby Turkish bread or choose the bread is quite bland in taste 150g sundried tomatoes - thinly sliced 100g of feta cheese either reduced fat or the nice and creamy ones ... thinlt sliced too optional... some greens salad mix Half the Turkish bread... and arrange the tomatoes, feta and salad. That's it really.. ready for lunch.


Pollo Alla Cacciatore

July 22, 2009
An Italian dish which means... Chicken Hunter style. chicken thigh pieces - seasoned with flour 1 large onion - chopped 1 clove garlic - chopped 1 cup mushroom 1 canned tomatoes 1 capsicum 1 cup water or stock 1 tablespoon chopped parsley 1/2 teaspoon oregano 1 bay leaf Coat the chicken pieces in flour. Heat up 3 tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan. Fry the chicken until golden brown. Place the chicken in the casserole dish. Saute the onion, garlic mushroom and capsicum in the remaining oil in the frying pan, until lightly brown. Stir in the canned tomatoes, stock, bayleaf, chopped parsley and oregano. Simmer for 5 minutes. Pour the mixture over the chicken in the casserole dish. Cover the dish and cook at 180C for 50 minutes or until chicken is tender. Season with salt and pepper. Chicken Cacciatore serve with couscous


Fish potato Pie

July 17, 2009
Tired of Shepherd's Pie? This is a tasty alternative... Fish Potato Pie 500g of white fish fillets - diced 2cm 1 red onion - chopped 2 garlic - crushed 1 cup of cauliflower or 150g of corn kernels 3 cup of milk 1/3 cup of flour 3 teaspoon of horseradish cream 800g potatoes - peeled and chopped 80g butter Mash Potatoes - Boil the potatoes in slightly salted water until tender. Mash the potato with 1/2 cup of milk. season with salt and pepper. Preheat the oven to 180C. Melt butter in the saucepan over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic, cook for few minutes until onion is softened. Add flour and give it a good stir.... add milk gradually and stir until the sauce thickened. Remove from heat. Add the horseradish cream. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in fish. Spoon the fish into a baking dish (8cup capacity dish). Top with mash potatoes. Bake for 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown. ~ sfi (I think!!) see the ' bubbling ' sauce... Tip: Line a b


Prawn Mee?? Hokkien Mee??

July 15, 2009
Hokkien Mee for the Northerners but its Prawn Mee to the KLites and Southerners... Its just like... you say potatoes (po-TAY-toes) I say potatoes (po-TAH-toes)... its the same thing!!! No exact measurement for this Hokkien Noodle... as the recipe was handed to Mr H from his late mother, who was an excellent cook. Chilli paste : blend some chillies, belacan, garlic, a little bit of dried shrimps. Saute the mix until oil separates...season with salt . Soup base : Saute the prawn shells with belacan and chilli paste. Blend and strain for a few times....into a stock pot. Add yam bean or white radish and chicken frames... keep the soup boiling ... Season with salt and sugar. Serve with yellow noodle, baby spinach or kangkung (water spinach), blanched bean sprouts, shredded chicken meat, peeled prawns and half boil egg with chilli paste on the side.....


Roasted Chestnuts

July 13, 2009
These little morsels bring back a lot of good memories..... First ..when I was in primary school in Alor Setar, while waiting for the school bus to take me home, and if I have some unspent pocket money....I would then ... walked over to this ' Apek's... who sell buah berangan ' push cart. 10 cents can stretch in those days.... But nothing can beat that nostalgic feeling of having hot roasted chestnuts along Regent Street, London.... the cold winter chill and the smell of freshly brewed coffee in the air ...and the Christmas street light decorations!! Make a slit and X on the chesnuts... to avoid 'explosion' in the oven. Roast for 20 min at 200C. Wrap in cloth and leave it to cool before 'chow down' ...


The famous Neiman Marcus Biscuit

July 11, 2009
Why is it so famous??? Well.... email has been circulating around... about this lady who dined at this 'Neiman-Marcus' restaurant in the US. She tried this biscuit, liked it and asked for the recipe... To make long story short - she was charged US$250 for the recipe... not happy (obviously!!) she circulated the recipe via email.... just to spike the restaurant!! How authentic the story?? Your guess is as good as mine! So we decided to try out the recipe.... no harm done.... Verdict ~the cookies are really good... of course with all the chocolates... hazelnut thrown in.... These cookies do not have a long life span in our cookie jar....just like 'that biscuits' advert... Now you see it ... now you don't 250 g butter 340g chocolate chips 500ml flour 1 cup brown sugar 1 tsp bicarbonate soda 1/2 tsp salt 1 cup sugar 250g Hershey bar or Cadbury bar - grated 1 1/2 cup oatmeal - blended 2 eggs at room temperature 1 tsp baking powder


Cauliflower Bake

July 10, 2009
Cauliflower is in season now... and its quite cheap. This lovely meal is a favourite among us. First time I had this cauliflower bake... when I was student on a budget ... some 20 years ago. A good winter warmer lunch with hot chocolate at the Student Union Cafetaria.....overlooking River Thames.... good old days!! 1/2 cauliflower - pre microwave and drain the water 1/2 cup cheese and extra for topping 1 small brown onion - chopped 2 garlic chopped 1 1/2 cup milk 1 tablespoon flour 2 bay leaves salt to taste 50 g butter Melt butter in a saucepan, saute the onion and garlic until soft. Stir in the flour. Add milk and keep stirring. Add bay leaves. Bring the sauce to boil until thickened... add cheese. Salt to taste. Add in cauliflower. Put the mixture in a baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese and bake for 40 minutes or until the cheese melted. Bake at 180C..


Beef Noodle Soup with Kimchi

July 08, 2009
Have you tasted the Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup- 2nd floor Ampang Point? It's lovely and yummy.... One big bowl and a drink would cost about RM10 (cost in 2004....the last time we dined there!!). This is our version of the Taiwanese Beef Noodle.... with Kimchi (of course... the original is without kimchi but some chillied preserve vegetables) 800g gravy beef - cut into chunky size 3 star anise 3cm ginger - lightly smashed rind of 1 orange. 1/4 cup light soya sauce glass noodle or soo hoon or tang hoon - soaked 2 carrots - cut into chunky size 1 radish - cut into chunky size kimchi golden fried shallots spring onion for garnishing Mix the beef, star anise, ginger, light soya sauce and orange rind in a slow cooker. Cook on low for 4 hours. Transfer the beef stock into a stock pot. Add carrots and radish. Cook until the vegetables are tender. Season with salt. Pour the boiling hot soup with 'goodies' into a bowl of glass noodle...Garnish with golden fried shal


Simple Pumpkin Soup

July 06, 2009
My little Miss E loves pumpkin soup.... she wouldn't mind having pumpkin soup for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day...unfortunately, her mom is not that 'rajin' (hardworking!) ... how sad... too bad ...nevermind 1 whole butternut pumpkin - cube 1 onion - chopped Saute the onion in a saucepan. Add pumpkin and 1 liter of water. Bring to boil. Cook until the pumpkin is soft and tender. Leave it to cool. Use the stick blender, puree the pumpkin. Heat it up over the stove again. Serve with cream and garnish with fresh herbs.


Banana Strudel

July 04, 2009
A nice change to the usual apple strudel.... 4 bananas - peeled and thickly sliced 1/3 cup of sultanas 1 tablespoon dessicated coconut 2 tablespoon brown sugar 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon of caster sugar 1 orange - rind finely grated and juiced 6 sheets of filo pastry olive oil cooking spray vanilla custard or ice-cream or yoghurt to serve In a mixing bowl, mix all (fr bananas to orange juice). Place 1 filo pastry on a workbench and top with another, spray with olive oil. Repeat twice with the remaining pastry sheets. Spoon the banana mixture... along 1 long edge of the pastry, leaving about 5 cm border on both short ends. Fold the short ends in and roll up to enclose filling. Place the strudel seamside down on a baking tray. Spray the top with oil and sprinkle the ground cinnamon and brown sugar. Bake at 190C for 30-35 minutes..... Serve while its hot with vanilla custard... Tip : dont leave it to long after baking....as it will get soggy . Use melted butte


Ole!! Saffron Paella with Prawn & Squid

July 03, 2009
Our first taste of risotto was... eeeyiew!! what a funny looking and weird tasting rice... creamy... neither rice nor porridge.....we were so not used to this 'ang mo' rice!!! after few trials and tastings... we acquired the funny taste ....hmmm not bad at all..especially chicken and mushroom risotto (will cook next time). Saffron Paella with Prawn and Squid 500g cooked prawns - de-shelled but tail intact 500g squids - thinly cut (ring) 3 cloves of garlic - crushed 1 brown onion chopped 1 cup of frozen peas 1/4 teaspoon saffron 2 cups of arborio rice 5 1/2 cup of water or chicken stock... 2 large tomatoes - quick blanched - deseeded, skin off and diced. In a saucepan....add 5 1/2 cups of water and the prawns shells and head. Boil for 10 minutes. Strain and discard the prawns shells and head. Add saffron. Leave it to simmer. Heat up a frying pan with 2 tablespoon of olive oil. Put in the squid for 3 minutes or until the squid turned opaque. Dish it out on