Showing posts from June, 2010

Beef and Barley Soup

June 29, 2010
Time to take out doona...  Perth weather had been creating news ... we had few cold days last week... temperature dropped below 0 degrees Celcius in the city and -ve4 in the bush!!! I woke up to an icy, frosty morning... a marvellous sight... everywhere around the garden covered in frost... from far ~ it looks like someone had dusted my garden with some icing sugar... yes.. I am always thinking of FOOD !! Oregano with speckled of frost In cold days like these, its nice to have hot soup... its better if we can have one pot meal... just chopped all vegetables, add meat and cook everything in a slow cooker... while we enjoy the comfort of nice warm bed with a good book... Beef and Barley Soup  1kg gravy beef - cut into 1 in cubes 1 liter V8 juice 1 brown onion chopped 2 cloves of garlic - crushed 1 cup of chopped leeks 1 cup of frozen peas 1 carrots - chopped 1/3 cup pearl barley 2 tablespoon flour 1 teaspoon of freshly chopped oregano Coat the beef wit


Angku

June 26, 2010
Angku ... literally means  Red Tortoise cakes (translated from Hokkien ).


Chawanmushi / Japanese Savoury Custard

June 24, 2010
Smooth, silky Chawanmushi or  Japanese Savoury Custard recipe


Fish Chowder

June 22, 2010
Easy delicious Fish Chowder recipe.  Makes an excellent winter comfort food. Its nice to have a bowl of hot soup during cold winter days...


Lap Chup/ Miniature Fruits and Vegetables

June 19, 2010
Miniature oranges, star fruits, mangosteen, strawberry, apples, carrots etc Lap Chup ~ originated from Thailand ... made of steamed split peas paste and shaped into miniature fruits and vegetables. Making Lap chup ~ is an art in itself; challenging one's skills and creativity... and most of all - one's patience !!! Making the split peas paste is the easiest part... the hardest part is painting ( I reckoned )... and dipping the fruits into agar-agar mixture ~ making sure it did not slide off the toothpick or colour run-off or uneven coat of agar-agar... Miss E painting an apple... note how small Lap Chup is on her left hand!! After dipping into agar-agar...Leave it to set on a toothpick The very first time I had tasted Lap Chup, was in late 1990's...It was a huge craze in Penang . Almost every Restaurant/ Eatery will sell these Lap Chup in a small packet of 8...  Needless to say.... one packet is never enough for me...  ;) 250g split mung beans


Ipoh Hor Fan / Flat Rice Noodles Soup

June 17, 2010
Ipoh ,  is the capital city of Perak , Malaysia ... famous for its culinary delights...  Hor Fan or  Flat Rice Noodles Soup  is one of them...  The flat rice noodles from Ipoh is said to have a  smooth and light texture ~ in comparison to noodles from other states...even beancurds taste better in Ipoh . Everyone believes that it has something to do with its magical water  ... Geologically, Ipoh sits on a limestone formation oops...a little bit of technical information here... , therefore the groundwater may have made a huge impact on the noodles, beancurds...and even for the Ipoh born and bred!!  :) I can't vouch for the later.. I am not from there!!   Miss E has a penchant for Chinese and Italian cuisine (no other reason... other than it is less spicy!!), she bugged  Mr H to cook her this dish... she once had it in the  Oldtown White Coffee Restaurant . This is our version of Ipoh Hor Fan  ...  note: the noodles are not from Ipoh but from South of the River (P


Feta Ricotta and Spinach Roll

June 15, 2010
Easy to bake Feta Ricotta and Spinach Roll


Apple Pie

June 05, 2010
Note : I'll be away from 7th to 14th...  :) Baking has always been my passion since young...  and my first attempt ~ was an apple pie . My cousin who was studying in Manchester in the late 70's brought home a baking cookbook with lovely photos ... I was fascinated, smitten and drooling all over the pages... and apple pie caught my attention... I was determined to bake an apple pie...  Those days... to have an electric oven was a luxury... and my mom precious oven was the black box known as Butterfly oven (picture on the left ~ fr google )... placed on a kerosene stove... the temperature was not consistent.. nevertheless.. I baked my first Apple Pie... it was a disaster... too young to understand what it takes to bake and most of the ingredients sounded alien to a young teenager...:) but that experience did not deter me from trying again... My quest to bake a good apple pie has led me to this recipe from an old book 'Traditional Home Baking'... 


Baby Octopus and seaweed salad

June 03, 2010
We enjoy this simple Japanese side dish... easy to make and serve with steam rice and Miso Soup. I love to feast on these baby octopus but then I have to have Panadol after that... triggers my headache...  I have to be careful not to over indulge... but kids and Mr H loved it .... could finish 1kg of baby octopus easily... :) 1 kg baby octopus - cooked and thinly sliced a tub of ready mix seaweed salad (from Asian grocer) sweet chilli sauce sesame oil extra roasted sesame seed for garnishing Mix all up... and serve. No quantitative for the seasoning... depending on one taste bud.. :)


Moroccan Fish with Chickpeas and Coriander

June 01, 2010
Recipe from Clarissa Hyman's ~ The Jewish Kitchen... Your choice of fish plays a significant part in this dish... I used Taylor as it has firm, sweet and juicy flesh... and it would not easily 'crumbled' ... as cooking this dish requires more than the usual 'rule of thumb of 8 minutes' in fish cooking.. and as Clarissa mentioned in her book... we could prepare this dish a day before ... and heat it up just before serving... There you go... choose your fish wisely ...otherwise the fish would be dry and have that cardboard texture.... bon apetito !! 2 whole Taylors - cut into 2(depending on the size) or use 4 white fish fillets 2 lemons - 1 for the juice and the other cut into chunks 2 tablespoon olive oil and extra for the last step 3 garlic cloves 1 red capsicum- deseeded and cut into strips 2 tablespoon paprika 2 teaspoon cumin 1/2 teaspoon tumeric a generous pinch of chilli flakes 1 canned chickpeas - drained and rinse 1 canned of diced to