Where was I??

9 months of hiatus.. that is freaking long.. where was I? I was nowhere but felt like I was everywhere.. it must be what you call aging? no??!

shit happens in life.. for some it maybe sometimes, but for me it seems like all the time.. family issues, in-law issues, the kid falling sick almost every 2 weeks it has been a roller coaster ride but Alhamdulillah, got thru all of it in 1 piece!

The numerous baking, cooking and kitchen experiments in these 9 months has been exciting.. after all those shit that happens, i'd realised my pots & pans, the stove, the oven and my lovely kitchen helps me to de-stress..


My comfort zone.. This is where i'll be when i'm hiding from my Firas.. This is where i'll wait impatiently for food to be out from the oven..


My very own island.. Love them to bits!

Here's what I've been doing since my last post:


5th March 2013.. Mountain Cheese burst patty.. Homemade dinner..


The first Rainbow cake for my Sister 30th Birthday, 17th March 2013.. It was such a failure.. the frosting was a runny mess, the taste was too sweet, but it was worth the try and I wasn't going to give up yet!


18th March 2013.. Maggi Goreng Mata Lembu! Instant quick dinner..


The first lunchbox, 19th March 2013.. This is when I decided to cut down on lunch spending.. That's stir fried veg + rice + Sweet Soy Sauce chicken..


Lunchbox, 22nd March 2013.. Fried Macaroni + oven baked chicken wings + Sardine bread roll..


22nd March 2013.. Fried Shrimp on Toasted Bun.. That's a lazy dinner..


23rd March 2013.. Weekend Brekkie.. My very own Big Breakfast.. Heh!


Lunchbox, 26th March 2013.. Green Chili fried rice + chicken cutlet & 'jemput-jemput'


4th April 2013.. The instant brekkie.. Instant Prata + Cheesy Sausage one can never go wrong with these combo..


11th April 2013.. Beef Pita for a weekday brekkie..


18th April 2013.. Baked Macaroni, for a weekday dinner..


19th April 2013.. Cajun Chicken Focaccia for a weekday breakfast..


Lunchbox, 26th April 2013.. Fried Egg Seafood Noodle..


4th May 2013, Mothers' Day celebration at the beach with my Mum and faveys aunts.. My 2nd rainbow cake.. It was my mistake cos I didn't crumb coat the cake.. henc ethe runny chocolate glaze.. But everyone love them!


5th May 2013.. Chocolate Sheet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting on a good day!


5th May 2013.. Cuppies for my dear and his colleagues.. You've gotta feed Police Officers with good food!


The first Doughnut ball 12th May 2013.. Made them during the weekend for my sister's religious class and it turns out a 'lil chewy, the chocolate glaze didn't cooperate with me.. boohoo! But I was determine to try them again!


12th May 2013.. It was Mothers' Day celebration for my MIL.. Chocolate Cuppies with Cream Cheese frosting..


Dinner, 16th May 2013.. Beef tofu stew, missing Seoul badly..


Dinner, 28th May 2013..  Roasted Chicken + Potatoes, it turns out oily & it wasn't spicy enuff for my tastebud.. Recipe from allrecipe.com


Dinner, 29th May 2013.. The effortless meal.. Ramli's Chicken Patties with toast.. When I am uber lazy, out comes the instant!


Dinner, 31st May 2013.. Macaroni Chicken Soup + Sambal Kicap.. the purrrrfect dinner on a rainy day..


Brekkie, 8th June 2013.. Cheesy beef toast..


Lunchbox, 12th June 2013.. Stir-fried veg with vermicelli noodle + Egg tofu


Lunchbox, 17th June 2013.. Tuna Onigiri..


Dinner, 18th June 2013.. My first Beef Lasagne.. Recipe taken from the back of the pasta packaging..


28th June 2013.. Mini Cinnamon Churros to kill time while waiting for dear husband to come home.. Surprisingly it turns out good..


8th July 2013.. The perfect soft donuts!


20th August 2013.. Complete dinner set for my famish husband.. Stir-Fried veg + Sambal Sotong..


8th September 2013.. When both wants a different menu for lunch.. For him, Sambal Tiger Prawns & I wanted a Ayam Lemak Chili Padi..


14th September 2013.. Weekend lunch, Nasi Goreng Kampong + Cajun Prawn + Keropok Ikan Tamban.. Power GileRR!


12th October 2013.. Midnight Snack, Tuna Mayo on Toast..


15th October 2013.. Mini Chocolate Chip muffin..


16th October 2013.. MY Meat pie for dinner..


Lunchbox, 29th October 2013.. Kimchi Fried Rice + its condiments..


30th October 2013.. Brekkie was Kimchi pancake on a weekday..


9th November 2013.. Cake pop for a cousin wedding.. I still couldn't figure out the perfect cake pop recipe but these are just too pretty!


15th November 2013.. Mushroom Fried Rice it tasted superb!


19th November 2013.. Hokkien Fried Noodle for weekday breakfast..


24th November 2013.. Ddubokki for dinner.. missing Seoul street food..

These are homemade food.. I wouldn't consider myself as hardworking but when it comes to food I get excited all the time.. and that explains why I gained 6kg after giving birth..

THE - Chicken Rice

Chicken Rice, Nasi Ayam, it has gotta be the simplest or prolly the basic-est food at all hawker centre.. Its like Chicken with Rice and Nasi with Ayam.. Simple food, simple pleasures..

Here's my take on my chicken rice.. A couple of years prolly 8-9 years back, I remembered watching Channel 5 on 1 morning and it was showing some chinese lady who is in the USA cooking Chicken Rice.. Back then, my memory was still capable on rememebering hence, miraculously i remembered roughly how it was made..

I had tried them a couple of times, improvised it at every tries and alhamdulillah it turned out good.. A reliable recipe i must say.. sorta! heh!

Before i start giving out the recipes, let me just get this straight that i had no intention on having these recipes on my own nor do i wanna be selfish.. There are times when i don't have any unit measurement on the litres of water used or the quantity of salt or sugar.. Whatever i have or knows i'll write it down, otherwise it would be agak-agak or estimation..

Chicken Rice



Chicken Stock:

* 1L of water
* Couple of chicken wings/parts (4-5 pcs)
* salt
* 2 cubes of chicken Knorr
[The original recipe is just water + chicken, it is tasteless, seriously tasteless]

Methods:
1) Cook the chicken parts in the 1L of water and bring it to boil.
2) Add in the Chicken cube & salt to taste.
3) Once the stock is up to your preference, turn off the heat. Let it cool properly. Best to cook them the previous night.

Rice:

* Rice (of course!), 5 cups
* 5 cloves garlic, minced
* 3 cm ginger, minced
* 1 Cube of chicken knorr
* 4 tbsp olive oil
[The original recipe uses chicken fats from the skin of the chicken.. Sound greasy doesn't it, so i had opted for olive oil]

Methods:
1) Washed the rice and drain properly.
2) Heat up oil in the wok and put in garlic and ginger. Stir well. (Garlic & ginger turns brown easily so you gotta constantly stir them!) PS: I get high from the smell of garlic & ginger.
3) Add in the Knorr cube and stir. Once dissolve, put in the rice. Yes the uncooked rice, stir fry them constantly for abt 3-5 mins and turn the heat off. Remove from stove and let it cool.

Rice meets Stock:
Note: DO NOT, use the whole 1L of chicken stock.

1) Once rice has cooled, pour in the required amt of stock to cook the rice (just like how you would cook a white rice). Stir them before putting it in the cooker and cook!
2) That is it!

Fried Chicken:
Note: This is not the recipe from the lady.. Its the basic, normal fried chicken recipe that i have, my own..

* Chicken thigh
* Light Soya Sauce
* Tumeric Powder (Kunyit Powder)

Methods:
1) Wash and drain the chicken. Pat them dry with a kitchen towel.
2) Marinate with light soya sauce & tumeric powder (Not too much of the powder)
Note: Due to the Soya Sauce, chicken turn brown easily. Do cook them on small fire/low heat.

Chicken Rice Chilli Sauce:

* 11 Red Chilli
* 5 Red Chilli Padi
* 4 cloves garlic
* 1 tbsp Vinegar
* 3/4 cup water
* Sugar
* Salt

Methods:
1) Blend all the ingredients together.
2) Cook them on low heat. Add more sugar/salt up to your preferences.

Happy Trying!

THE - Carbo-less Dinner

Dining at home is always the bestest place.. I don't have to be embarassed by Firas shouting or dropping the utensils, we get to top up if portion is too small.. I can sit anyway, anyhow i like!

So, we had tried to avoid eating rice, the extra weight gain is increasingly difficult to lose.. Here's something that he like which he doesn't feel guilty having for dinner..

Baked Garlic Parmesan Chicken with Steamed veggies & Aglio Olio..

This had been his favorite for the last couple of days.. We usually omit the pasta.. Just the Chicken & the veggies.. It is filling for dinner and hey!, there is no carbo! =))

THE - Happy Pan

Apart from the occasional request for a bling bling earrings, i had asked for a pan.. Yes i asked my hubs to gimme a pan as a random present.. Who asked their husband for a pan?? I did!! =)

So he surprised me at work by sending a picture for a pan which i had asked a long time ago... THE HAPPY CALL!!! He had ordered it and it was delivered at home..

I got insanely excited at work.. I couldn't work and i was eager to go home and whip something instantly.. =) Here is my first dish from Happy Call..

Cajun Chicken:

Ingredients:
* Chicken Breast
* Cajun Seasoning
* Pepper
* A dash of Cayenne pepper

Methods:
1. Wash the chicken breast & pat dry with paper towel.
2. Season with pepper, cajun seasoning & a dash of cayenne pepper.
3. Heat up the happy call with abt 1 tbsp olive oil and cook the chicken for at 10 mins or till chicken is properly cooked.

PS: Serve it with steamed veggie..

THE - Healthier meatier supper!

Hubs & I gets easily hungry near midnite.. We used to order delivery for McD for late night supper.. BUT, eversince the delivery charges went up to 4 bucks, we had to get a restraining order.. We could get 2 double cheese burger for that price lah!

So, i stumbled across a kinda healthier supper alternative.. Having supper is still sinful lah! Its easy to prepare and easy to cook!

Baked Garlic Parmesan Cheese:

Ingredients:
* 4 Chicken Breast
Bowl A
* Olive oil
* 4 cloves garlic, crushed
Bowl B
* 2 cups breadcrumbs
* a sprinkle of dried thyme (optional)
* 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese (if you like it cheesier, do add more)
* Cajun Seasoning (for flavour)

Methods:
1. Preheat oven at 170 deg. C
2. Dip the chicken breast on Bowl A. Then dip it in Bowl B, making sure it is covered well in the breadcrumbs mixture.
3. Lay it on a lightly grease baking tray. (Not too much oil on the baking tray, otherwise the crumbs would be soggy..
4. Baked it in the preheated oven for 15 mins or till the crumbs turns golden brown.

THE - Virgin Post!

We, me and dearest hubby AND his brothers' family, had dinner a couple of days ago at Choa Chu Kang, to celebrate my mother-in-law's (MIL) birthday.. So 2 days after that dinner, my father-in-law (FIL) had asked if i know how to cook Sweet & Sour Garoupa.. I stood there, stare at him blankly, paused a little before giving him a soft no.. BUT i was quick to say, i'll learn how to cook it and will cook it for him.. I promise..

So i spent almost the whole of yesterday looking for recipes.. Looking for recipe is one thing, knowing which recipe to try out is another thing.. Thank god, i manage to settle for a recipe which uses simple ingredients and it turn out pretty good.. Since the meet up with besties was cancelled (unfortunately by me), i have the opportunity to try out the recipe since hubby gave me the green light to make him the guinea pig.. And oh! I cooked baby kailan with mushroom, since my MIL have to eat more veggie (doctor's advice to her) and my dearest hubby loves mushroom..

Sweet & Sour Chicken

Firstly, 500gm Chicken breast meat cut cubed. Marinate with 1 small egg, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper (i love more), 3tbsp corn starch. Set aside for at least 1 hour. But, the longer, the better!

If you wanna substitute the chicken with whole fish here you go: 500gm whole garoupa - seasoned lightly with salt & pepper, dust lighty with tapioca flour or cornstarch. Set aside.

Ingredients (A):
* 1/2 green capsicum - cubed
* 1 red chili - sliced
* 1 tomato - cut cubed
* 1 onion - cubed (prefer the white onion)
* 1 cup cucumber - cubed
* some canned pineapple chunk (Optional)

Ingredients (B):
* 2 clove garlic - chopped
* 4 tbsp tomato sauce
* 2 tbsp white vinegar
* 2 tbsp soy sauce
* 1 tsp sugar
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1/2 tsp pepper
* 1/2 cup water
* Cornstarch & water solution for thickening (Optional)

Method:
1. Deep fry meat in hot oil. Dish out, drain well & set aside on serving plate.
2. Heat wok with oil, saute chopped garlic & onion for aprox 3 minutes.
3. Add in all ingredients (B) except for cornstarch & bring to boil.
4. Add in all ingredients (A) and simmer. If sauce is too watery, thicken with cornstarch.
5. Pour sauce over meat. Ready to serve.

Baby Kailan with Mushroom

* Baby Kailan
* Mushroom - soaked & cut into strips
* 1 clove garlic - minced
* 3/4 tbsp oyster sauce
* 1 tsp soy sauce
* 1/2 cup water
* Cornstarch & water solution for thickening (Optional)

Methods:
1. Stir minced garlic in heated oil.
2. Add in mushroom & oyster sauce.
3. Add in water and let ir simmer for aprox 1 minute.
4. Add baby kailan & stir.
5. Add in soy sauce. Add cornstarch if sauce is watery.

Happy Trying! =)