Sunday Dinner

The whole of Sunday was spent watching TV (by Aina) and editing pics and updating FB & blog (by me) since Hubby was at work all day.

After lunch, I'd started to prepare the ingredients for dinner ~ pounding the chillies and turmeric for the masak lemak, and prepping the chicken to be grilled in the oven. Yup, the Ayam 'Goreng' Rempah was grilled in the oven to make it a little healthier :-D

GULAI LEMAK IKAN MASIN & BELIMBING
you need:
2 pcs med-sized salted fish, soaked in hot water for about 15 - 20mins,
rinsed and cut into smaller pieces
10 - 15 cili padi, up to your own level of tolerance! :-p
1 thumb-sized (and my thumb's not so large) fresh turmeric root
1 piece turmeric leaf
6 belimbing buluh, cut into chunks
1 small piece asam gelugur
1 cup thin coconut milk
1/2 cup thick coconut cream
salt, sugar ~ to taste

how to:
pound the turmeric and cili padi to a fine paste. combine the paste with the coconut milk, asam, and belimbing in a pot and bring to a boil. lower heat to a simmer, add in the salted fish and turmeric leaf. simmer gently, stirring regularly, until fish and belimbing is tender. add in the coconut cream and bring up to a boil, again stirring regularly so that the coconut cream does not split. check seasoning and serve.

AYAM GORENG REMPAH
you need:
6 pcs. chicken wings
1 small piece turmeric root
1/2 tsp. coriander seeds
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
1/2 tsp. fennel seeds
1/2 tsp. white peppercorns
1 Tbs. light soy sauce

how to:
rub the soy sauce into the chicken and let rest about 10mins.
pound all the spices coarsely, then rub into the chicken and leave to marinade for about 20 mins. heat oven to 160'C and drizzle vergetable oil over the chicken pieces and mix to combine. lay the chicken pieces on the grilling tray and cook for about 40mins, till done.

This is another dish that goes perfectly with the gulai lemak, and any other gulai that you may cook at your home! :-D

IKAN PEKASAM GORENG TELUR
you need:
3 - 4 small pcs ikan pekasam, rinsed well
sliced onions, quantity is up to you
sliced cili padi, quantity is up to you
1 egg, beaten lightly
lime wedgesm, to garnish and squeeze over the dish

how to:
heat a bit of oil and fry the fish pieces gently over low heat. as the fish browns, add in the onions and cili and fry till onions are soft. pour in the egg mixture and let set a bit, turn over and cook the other side. it is basically like an omelette, only you have the fish as the filling. when egg is cooked through, squeeze lime over and serve hot.

It's Monday morning, and it's busy, busy, busy..........till tomorrow, I HOPE!



Cheers!!

Food Entry, after a LOOOONNNGGG time -p

yup! finally an entry on FOOD!!

This week, I've been fasting to pay of my 'debts' and yesterday, I decided to have rice porridge with condiments for buka puasa.

I usually have 2 ways of enjoying my porridge ~ either chinese style or berlauk a la Kg. Baru :-)

Last night, I decided to be greedy and have it both ways!! LOL LOL LOL

The first side dish was Stir-Fried Oyster Mushrooms in Oyster Sauce.

you need:
1 med-sized pkg oyster mushrooms (white or grey)
1 Tbs. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. sesame oil
1/4 cup oyster sauce + half the amount of water
ground white pepper
a wee bit of sugar, to taste

how to:
heat oil and fry garlic till fragrant.
add in the sesame oil and stir. quickly add in the other ingredients and stir well.
cook till mushroom start to wilt, then turn of heat. Check seasoning.
Serve hot.

Another favourite is Spicy Black Pepper Beef.

you need:
250g beef slices (approx.)
marinate with 1 Tbs dark soy sauce and 1 Tbs oyster sauce.
pound:
3 cloves garlic
6 - 7 cili padi
2 shallots
2 Tbs. black peppercorns
a pinch of salt
1/4 cup water
sugar, to taste
coarsely chopped coriander leaves
* veg of your choice i.e. carrots, capsicum, spring onions, etc. (optional)

how to:
heat oil in wok and fry the pounded ingredients till fragrant.
add in the beef slices and fry till half done. add in veg, if using.
add in water and simmer till done.
season (no salt is added due to the use of soy sauce & oyster sauce), and stir in the coriander leaves just before serving.

We also had Ginger & Tauchu Chicken.

you need:
1 pkt chicken breast, sliced
1 inch ginger, sliced thinly
2 - 3 shallots, pounded
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pc. lemongrass, bruised
1 Tbs. oyster sauce
1 Tbs. tauchu
water
sugar, to taste
chopped chinese parsley and spring onions, for garnish

how to:
heat oil and fry all aromatics till fragrant and start to dry out. add in the chicken strips.
fry further till chicken is cooked through, then add sauces and water. simmer till chicken is tender, and season. no salt required due to the use of tauchu and oyster sauce. sprinkle with garnish just before serving.

And these are my must-have condiments ~ pickled lettuce (or so it says on the can), preserved peanuts and chopped spring onions.


THREE other crucial condiments are missing but since I ran out, no choice :-s Had to just make do. What are the missing items?

• Salted Egg
• Fried Onions/Shallots
• Fried Peanuts :-)
  

However, it was a very satisfying meal indeed........... :-)

And this "Bare-backed-then-Stuffed Cencaru" was a dish from the previous day.

you need:
2 pcs cencaru (or kembung or whatever fish you fancy)
salt & turmeric powder ~ rubbed into the fish
2 Tbs. pounded shallots
1 Tbs. pounded garlic
2 Tbs. chili paste (chili boh)
1 large onion, sliced in rings
1/4 cup tamarind juice (using 1 tsp. of tamarind)
sugar to taste

banana leaf/foil
olive oil

how to:
in a wok, heat a fair amount of oil and fry the pounded ingredients & chili paste until fragrant and slightly dry. add in the sliced onions. cook until onion is soft, then add the tamarind juice. simmer and stir, then check seasoning. set aside.

pre-heat oven to 200'C - 220'C.

line a baking tray with foil or banana leaf.

scoop the sambal mixture into the fish cavity (if using whole fish) or on top of fish slices (if using fish steaks), place fish on the banana leaf and drizzle quite generously with olive oil. top with a layer (or TWO!) of banana leaf and place in hot oven. cook for approx. 30 mins. serve hot.

I don't really fancy cencaru, but hubby seems to be partial to it, and he's the one who usually buys them at the pasar borong. I'd usually go for senangin, siakap, kerapu or bawal (both the white pomfret or the 'black' version). Sometimes I get a hankering for certain types of fish, then I'd go from stall to stall to look for it.

And while on the subject of fish, if the fish is bought, I would eat it, but not really devour it even if it was my favourite fish prepared the way I like it. If however, the fish was caught fresh by hubby on his trips, I can gobble up a whole good-sized kerapu on my own LOL LOL LOL

While on this subject i.e. food, with Ramadhan coming in close, hubby mentioned yesterday that he'll soon need to go out and look for crabs :-D :-D :-D

OK OK.... he will not be our crabbing, but will call up his 'supplier' in Pulau Ketam and get it there.

Wonder when, if ever, he'll go and start fishing for tiger prawns again.............
(that was his thing when I was pregnant with Aina)






AM

Less Than 2 Weeks

..and we'll be ushering Eid again.

Seems like we'd only just started fasting, and soon it'll be the end of Ramadhan... Unbelievable!

Okie... let's get on with babbling about food and what we've been up to the past week :-D

I'd started buying Aina's clothes for the festive season but I still can't, for the life of me, find an acceptable (read: cute and of suitable fabric) baju kurung for Aina. It's probably useless too, since Aina still does not want to walk on her own, but I think she'd look really nice in one, ehehehe. Disney Baby and Poney were having a sale, and the items I bought were between 30% - 50% less their normal price. Believe it or not, 3 tops and 4 pants just cut me back around RM200!

Hubby has decided not to buy a new baju melayu this year, since the one he got last year was only worn twice (Aidil Fitri & Raya Haji!), so that left me looking for something that would look nice with his existing suit. Managed to find it at the Mall :-) AND, not too pricey too!!

19th Ramadhan Menu
Spongegourd Soup with Dried Anchovies & Fishballs, Squid in Spicy Chilli Gravy,
Sweet & Sour Fish and Bubur SumSum to start :-)

OK, menu was kept simple but on Tuesday I decided to divert from rice and made Roasted Chicken with Garlic & Rosemary with Potato & Egg Salad with Green Salad, and added homemade cream of mushroom soup. One BIG mistake -- I'd seasoned the soup perfectly but when I reheated for iftar, it turned out too salty! I had to finish my serving with bread....

18th Ramadhan Menu

HOMEMADE CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP
(i did this by feel since i didn't have a lot of mushrooms -- an
experiment, really!)

note that quantity of ingredients will depend on how much mushrooms you
have at hand

you need:
1/2 pkt of mushrooms (i used oyster, but u can use a combination of
mushrooms)*
1 large onion, diced finely
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbs butter
1 bit of olive oil
1 vegetable or chicken stock cube
1 cup full cream milk
1/2 cup water
1 potato, cubed (as thickener)
1 bay leaf
white pepper, salt
canned button mushrooms, sliced - optional

how to:
heat butter with oil in a large pot -- the oil keeps the butter from
burning.
add in the onions and garlic, together with the bay leaf and reduce heat.
just cook the onions thru until translucent. only low heat is required as you
don't want the onions to brown.
stir in the mushrooms and cook until it softens and begins to break down.
add in the potato, stock cube and water and bring up to boil. simmer gently to
cook the potato. remove from heat; take out the bay leaf. use a hand
blender to blend the soup, or pour into a stand blender. if using a stand
blender, make sure you leave the small cap on the cover off. you don't want an explosion of hot soup in your
kitchen!

reheat the soup and add in the full cream milk (may use heavy cream if
desired), and add in the seasoning and sliced mushrooms (for added texture). ready to serve.

ROASTED CHICKEN WITH GARLIC AND ROSEMARY

you need:
3 large chicken thighs, keep skin
5 - 6 cloves
garlic, crushed roughly
1 Tbs minced ginger
2 bunches fresh rosemary,
chopped finely
olive oil
salt, pepper

how to:
prepare chicken -- poke through the meatiest parts with a
fork and also between joints to ensure it'll be cooked through. combine
allother ingredients and leave to marinade for an hour or so. place on a
roasting pan and put in a low oven (about 130'C) for about an hour. crank up
to maximum (about 250'C) for the last 10 minutes to get a nice crunch of the
garlic and rosemary on the skin. done this way, most of the fat in the skin
would have dripped, leaving a crunchy
layer of skin.

I'm looking to make clam chowder or some sort of a bisque, but will need to source for the ingredients first. I'm also hankering for pumpkin soup, but have yet to be able to find the 'right' pumpkin LOL LOL LOL(the one I saw at Cold Storage costs RM35 for a whole pumpkin!!!)

Monday was a holiday for hubby so he went to Keramat to get ikan bakar on before picking me up from work. Hence, the menu below for our iftar on the 17th of Ramadhan.

On Sunday, we went to Sg Buloh to (finally!) get some plants to decorate our mini (miniscule?) garden. I decided on portulacas, or commonly known also as Japanese Roses, as they were hardy and can tolerate direct sunlight, with minimum care required. Hubby also bought a kasturi lime tree, to add to the existing kaffir lime tree, and I picked out fennel to add to my already existing roesmary plant. I'm sourcing for more herb plants, so another trip to Sg Buloh is extremely crucial :-P ehehehehhe

I fell in love with so many orchids there but I need to sort out my porch/garden area to accommodate all that we have now before I can add more plants (of any species) to the existing ones we have.

Sunday afternoon, after replanting the portulacas, we headed to Sentul as hubby wanted to buka puasa with Mak. We stopped by at Keramat to get ikan bakar, and hubby was so happy to manage to get tuka for Mak.

Saturday (notice I'm doing this in reverse this time, LOL), hubby decided to take me out for supper at Tenji @ Solaris, Hartamas. It's a Japanese fusion buffet restaurant, and reservations are crucial. Do not go without one, and go slightly early if you do have reservations. You need to re-check and reconfirm your reservation, and pay in advance, before you're seated at your table.

My Starter @ Tenji Sashimi - Butterfish, Salmon, Scallops, Octopus and Fresh Oysters

My verdict? MONEY WELL SPENT! There's a whole sashimi area complete with scallops, squid, fresh oysters, butterfish, salmon... you name it, and they'd probably have it all! There's a counter for the DIY steamboat, tempura, grilled items, vegetables, local fare, western offerings as well as a dessert bar which includes Haagen Daaz ice cream.

Oh yea... This is Aina, 'dressed' in her stuffed toy snake thingy by her Babah!!

See...! Leave a man with his daughter for a while and this happens!! I didn't know whether to laugh or hit her Babah....!! I had to leave Aina to her Babah as I made cookies as well as Bread Pudding for our iftar, before we went out.

Earlier in the week, I'd made these simple dishes which we enjoyed very much! :-)

14th Ramadhan Menu

13th Ramadhan Menu

12th Ramadhan Menu

Okie... that's it for now...

I will be on leave on Friday, in hopes of being able to catch up on some kitchen projects but we'll see how that goes, especially with Aina around LOL LOL LOL

AM

Ramadhan Datang Lagi

This year, the first day of Ramadhan fell on a Saturday.

I'd mentioned to hubby that it was probably a good idea if we berbuka with Mak (i.e. my mom-in-law) since it was a weekend. Turned out, my 2 other sisters-in-law also came down to KL for the holidays, so it turned out to be a big 'do with a LOT of home made food :-)


Aina was not well, in fact my plans to make capati for sahur that Saturday had to be scratched as Aina had a runny nose and was clingy since I got back from work on Friday :-s


After 3 days of taking her prescribed meds for the cold, and with no improvement, I decided to go back to nature so to speak and used a traditional remedy using fresh turmeric. Alhamdulillah that night itself the runny nose stopped. Her sneezing stopped the next morning.

For the gathering on 1st Ramadhan, my contribution was grilled beef and a seafood salad i.e. kerabu.

SEAFOOD SALAD

you need:
300g squid, cleaned and blanched
500g prawns, cleaned and blanched
4 - 5 strings green beans, blanched
to slice finely:
1 large white onion, quartered
1 large tomato, quartered
10 cili padi
2 fresh red chillies
a handful of mint leaves
2 stalks lemongrass, use the whites only
a handful of coriander leaves
pound:
2 Tbs dired shrimp, roasted
combine for dressing:
Juice from 2 limes
Juice from 4 kasturi limes or calamansi
1 Tbs fish sauce
sugar, to taste

how to:
combine all of the above and leave to rest for about 20 mins. before serving. can be served at room temparature or chilled.

Aina was in high spirits when the other little ones came, but she still wanted me to be near... It was not fun... :-)


On 2nd Ramadhan, I invited my sisters over to buka puasa. I prepared these....

NASI MINYAK

you need:
4 cups of basmathi rice - washed and tossed well
1 large onion, quartered and sliced
1/2 inch ginger, julienned
3 pcs. star anise
5 pcs. cardamom pods
1 pc. cinnamon stick
1 1/2 Tbs clarified butter (ghee)
1 pc. pandan leaf, knotted
100ml milk
300ml water
salt
a handful of raisins

how to:
heat ghee in rice pot at the stove. add in the dry spices and as soon as seeds start to pop, add in the onions and ginger. toss in the pandan leaf as well. fry until fragrant, then stir in the rice. turn off heat and continue to stir the rice to coat well with the spice and ghee. add in all other ingredients and place into rice cooker to cook as usual.

AYAM MASAK MERAH

you need:
1 1/2 chicken, cut into pieces
- sprinkle with salt & turmeric powder and fry till just cooked.
Blend:
2 large onions
6 shallots
5 cloves garlic
2 inches ginger
2 Tbs ground chilli
Sauce:
1/2 can tomato puree
3 Tbs sweet chilli sauce
4 Tbs tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
Dry Spice:
1 stick cinnamon
4 cardamom pods
2 star anise
5 cloves

how to:
heat oil in a large wok and fry the dry spices. add in the blended ingredients and fry till mixture becomes almost dry. add on the sauce ingredients. check seasoning. more or less of the ingredients may be added according to preference. mine is a bit more 'saucey' that's why a large amount of the sauce and puree goes in. if you like it drier, then cut back.

toss in the cooked chicken and stir well to combine. leave to simmer until you achieve the desired consistency, or add more water if you like to have a sauce.

Anyway, here are my two sisters playing with Aina :-)



After dinner, I packed up some leftovers for them to take home, then showed them the way to go home...

LOL LOL LOL

Yep, signboards and road signages are lost on them ok. The one studying in Sheffield can even get lost when she's travelling ON FOOT!! LOL LOL LOL





AM

p.s. made the HUGE mistake of giving Aina one of the donuts, she could not sleep and was playing until 11.30pm!!!! NEVER AGAIN!!!!

Tengah Rajin

ahahahahhaa...

seriously though, I thought I might as well update a bit since Aina's already asleep, and I am ACTUALLY AWAKE!!!

this doesn't happen very often!!! LOL LOL LOL

for dinner tonite I made these simple dishes -- turmeric fried chicken and stir-fried peas & carrots.

since I don't think I've ever put in the recipe for the chicken, I'll do so in this entry just for the heck of it... I'm sure EVERYone knows this recipe, or at least their own version, but I'll keep mine here for my own record (i know... sounds kinda lame LOL)

Turmeric Fried Chicken

you need:
1 med-sized packet of chicken breast fillet, sliced
turmeric powder
ground white pepper
salt
1 large onion, sliced in rings
1 red chilli, sliced
1 clove garlic, finely sliced
1 knob of ginger, finely julienned

how to:
marinade the chicken with the turmeric, salt & pepper.

heat oil in a wok and add in the chicken slices.
fry until chicken crisps up slightly, then turn. as it starts to brown and crisp, add in the onions, garlic, ginger and chilli. stir until onions are soft. check seasoning; serve hot.

Alright... have to go catch up on CSI NY now... we'll see if I can update tomorrow nite... :-P




AM

Normal

...well at least SOME sense of normalcy :-)

Aina's fully recovered now, and she seems to be even more mischievous and cheeky!

I've not warmed up my 'new kitchen' so I thought of adding a simple recipe of what I made for dinner last night, Ayam Masak Kicap.

AYAM MASAK KICAP
(quantity of spice ingredients depends on quantity of chicken)
chicken pieces
shallots*
garlic*
ginger*
(all * ingredients to be pounded to a paste)
dark soy sauce
sweet soy sauce
light soy sauce
oyster sauce
white pepper, salt & sugar to taste

heat oil in a wok and fry pounded ingredients.
add in combined mixture of sauces, with a bit of water.
bring to boil, then add chicken pieces. bring up to boil again, then lower heat and leave to simmer for about 15 mins, until chicken is cooked through. if gravy becomes a bit dry or thick, adjust by adding water to desired consistency. season to taste before serving.

Aina was also over the moon last nite as she was able to see her babah via our webcam, and she was grinning the whole time her babah was talking to her. Needless to say, Aina's babah was also happy to see her :-D :-D :-D

Seems that he may be held back a few extra days, but hopefully he'll be back before the end of the month as I've planned a bit of activity for us then.

Our short break this weekend has been cancelled due to some unforeseen reason, but we (Aina and me) will be making a short trip back to Ipoh to visit my maternal grandmother on Chinese New Year.

Don't scoff, because FYI.... I am 50% made up of chinese blood! ehehehehe



AM