Showing posts from February, 2009

Chuck Bone Soup ~Not Quite like Doraisamy...

February 28, 2009
I was planning to cook chuck bone soup... looked into the larder and to my disgust... I have no more " Adabi - Sup Bunjut' sachet left!!! Grrrrr I can't refreeze the meat as I've been thawing the meat in the fridge ...what the heck... show must go on... So I decided to ground my own spice.... that's why its not quite like the famous "Soup Kambing' from Jalan Doraisamy. Spice ~ 2 teaspoon coriander seeds, 2 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon fennel and 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoon black pepper(depending on your preferred level of 'pepper hot'). Peel about 2 inches ginger (bruise), carrots, celery(chopped) and potatoes. Place the chuck bones and diced gravy beef in a slow cooker with the grounded spice, ginger and celery. Cook for at least 4 hrs if set on HIGH (if using stove... then about 1 hr). Transfer the whole content into a stockpot. Continue cooking.. add potatoes, carrots until the vegetables are tender..(another option is to microwave the carrot


Miss E's Tea Party

February 23, 2009
Miss E's tea party  


Tandoori Chicken....

February 20, 2009
Last weekend... we were too busy with our 'Phantom'... We had no plan what-so-ever for the next meal...then the thought of having Mussels seems all so appealing...... after all - the kids love mussels - garlic and chilli mussel ....Yum!! So off we went.. on the Sunday morning to Drovers Lane Fish Market with the intention to buy 3 kg of Mussels... what a disappointment! They had no Mussels.. and everything else was expensive, blue swimmer crabs for $19.99/kg..wow!!! what a rip-off! We ended up with Tandoori Chicken serve with Coriander Rice and Vegetable for Sunday. Tandoori chicken - you can marinate the chicken with premix tandoori paste (or Maggi mix back in M'sia). Best marinate overnight for the full flavour to develop. Check the weight of the chicken, to determine the time to roast the chicken in the oven. The Coriander rice - thinly sliced some green onions. Saute with butter (more flavour, if ghee is used). Add 2teaspoon of cumin. Then.. add th


Pasta?....Si Signorita ....

February 17, 2009
Miss E loves anything to do with pasta, pizza or Italian cuisine... She is more 'Ang Moh' than Mr H Jr who is more 'Mamak'. For her...Pasta- anytime be it breakfast, lunch or dinner, we used to tease her by telling her ...that the only part that is Italian ... is her 'tooshie'... This is Creamy Chicken Pesto Pasta.... 350g dried Pasta or spaghetti 300ml light cream thinly sliced green onions 1/2 cup sundried tomatoes thinly sliced 1 1/2 cup cooked chicken - shred 1/2 cup pesto parmesan cheese Cooked the pasta as per packet instruction. Drain the pasta and reserve 1/4 cup of the water. Heat up the pot, add pasta, cream, tomatoes, pesto chicken and green onions. Heat through. Salt and pepper. Sprinkle with remaining green onion and parmesan cheese. Homemade Pesto: 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves about a handful of almond (suppose to use pine nuts but Della dont quite like the taste of pine nuts) parmesan cheese olive oil salt mix basil, parmes


Fancy Otak-Otak??

February 15, 2009
We have not been missing 'Malaysian' cuisine much since we came to Perth... We will always try to modify and substitute some of the ingredients in that particular recipe with what we could find here...... The above is our version of 'Otak-Otak' originally from the 'Nonya cookbook'. The only thing missing is the daun kadok.... well... 'beggars can't be choosers' here... 500g Basa Fillets 1 red onion 2 cloves garlic 10 dried chillies or add another 5 fresh chillies if you wish to have some 'ummph' 1 inch fresh or frozen galangal 1 inch fresh or frozen tumeric and add about 1 teaspoon of tumeric powder for the colour 2 stalks lemongrass 2 tablespoon of belacan granules 250 ml coconut milk Salt and pepper to taste 2 eggs 2 tablespoon rice flour Blend the Basa until smooth, put it aside in the mixing bowl. blend all the spices from onion to belacan (running down the list above) until smooth too. Mix all in the mixing bowl, to


Microwave #1 ~ Roasting Peanuts.....

February 13, 2009
Have you tried roasting peanuts in the microwave? Try it....It is easy and simple. What you need to do is spread the peanuts(single layer) on a microwaveable plate. Microwave for about 2 min on High (depend on the microwave capacity- some may need longer than 2 mins), stir the peanuts, if the colour is not up to your liking ie goldenish shade... then microwave again ...maybe 1 min ...and check every time - otherwise you'll end up with 'burnt black' peanuts in the middle of the plate!!...Yuck!! Let it cool completely.... then you'll have a lovely crunchy 'roasted' peanuts...


Peking Duck... Anyone??

February 11, 2009
It was Chap Goh Mei on the 9th of February, so I thought of cooking something 'Chinesey' to marked the end of the Lunar New Year celebration. Well... I cheated on the Peking Duck, bought from Supa IGA (Luv-a-Duck) ......it was worth it... eliminate all the hassle of cooking the conventional way; by drying the duck, marinate with five spice etc. So mah fan . Serve on the bed of 'Prosperity and Longevity Noodle'. ...... The noodle was a modified version from my fave magazine - 'Super Food Idea'.... 450g of thin hokkien noodle or 2 dried noodle thinly slice green onions 1 cup of beansprout Thinly sliced red capsicum 1 inch of ginger - grated 4 cloves of garlic - chopped 1/3 cup of light soya sauce 3 teaspoon of sesame oil salt and pepper to taste Saute the garlic and ginger in 2 tablespoon of canola oil until fragrant. Add in the noodle, soya sauce and capsicum. Stir for about 5 minutes until the noodle is cooked (not to overcook it) and add in


Upside Down Plum Cake and Mango Glutinous Rice

February 10, 2009
And the winner is..... We had a 'Project Dessert Storm' last weekend...... On Saturday, Dell baked an Upside Down Plum Cake (recipe fr Women's Weekly magazine); and on Sunday, Mr.H Jr made his Mango and Glutinous Rice. We even had a competition... for the best dressed 'Mango and Glutinous Rice' . The above is Mr.H Jr's presentation, followed by Miss.E (middle) and me(bottom). Glutinous Rice Soak about 200g glutinous rice overnight drain and steam for at least 45 minutes Coconut mixture 250ml coconut milk (skim the thick creamy coconut for garnishing later) 4 tablespoon sugar salt to taste Mix the coconut milk, sugar and salt in the saucepan over medium heat, bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer until it thickens. Pour mixture over rice, fluffing up with fork. Leave to stand for 10 minutes. Serve with sweet juicy mango.....yum...


Sambal Belacan

February 10, 2009
Sambal Belacan .... is one of the "must have"s on our dinner table....the other would be sambal tumis (recipe at later stage). There is no exact measurement to this sambal belacan . I was taught by my mom to ' agak - agak ' , so agak - agak it is.... sorry Fresh Chillies Belacan / prawn paste Lime Juice or Tamarind extract Salt Sugar if the chillies are extremely hot Method Blend the chillies into smooth paste Add belacan , salt and lime juice or tamarind extract (sugar if required) Blend again and adjust to your tastebud ..


Lemon.....the wonderful Lemon

February 09, 2009
This is an article that I came across in the West Australian newspaper dated 27th January 2009. I do apologise for the minute print.... the gist of it: " Lemon is acidic upon your palate, it becomes alkaline within your body. Most of the food we eat can be classified as acid forming but the lemon juice has the ability to restore some balance to your body. Avoiding acid forming foods and increasing the levels of alkaline foods will improve health, be it as diverse as fewer aches and pains, reducing asthma and eczema thru better digestive function. Lemon juice in warm water each morning is a wonderful start to long term health and vitality" -Michael Treloar ND, The West Australian. Another use: to clean your electric kettle or your stainless steel cookware...after the lemon treatment, it'll be spotless. How: either slice or cut up the lemon into half, boil water as usual with the lemon in it. leave it overnight. The next day reboil the water ..... voi