Curried Chicken, Sambal & Rice

Chicken Curry

I made a pot of curried chicken yesterday and it was just what I needed even though I am down with the flu...:P No one can't stop me from having my hot fix! And to make it even hotter, i had sambal with it.

A true Penangite will always eat their rice with sambal belacan. Well, that's what I was brought up to assume because when my grandmother was still alive, she'd always eat her rice with sambal on every meal, regardless of whatever dishes she forked out to go with the rice. Oh and she usually has a plate of fresh veggies like lettuce leaves, cucumber and four sided bean around so she can eat it with her sambal belacan and rice.

I am a Penang girl; born in Penang and will always take Penang as home even though I lived in KL, Malaysia. I spent most of my girlhood in Penang, in my grandparents house, which i still dream of at night when I go to sleep. Now, even though I live in Canada, I still eat like a Penangite and I am proud that my kitchen reeks of sambal belacan and all the other pungent spices :P

Anyway, back to my curried chicken, i used yoghurt instead of coconut's milk. Healthier and i feel less guilty scorching my throat when the curry is healthier, mind you! Everybody seems to have a way of cooking their curried chicken. Mine? I will never add water to my curry; instead I add chopped up juicy tomatoes to it :)

Here's what I used in my chicken curry:


Half a chicken, cut in to 8 pieces

Marinate chicken with:-
150g of yoghurt
4 tablespoons of curry powder
1 teaspoon tumeric powder
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin, whole
1 teaspoon salt

Curry base, to be blended:-
3 large onions (green or red)
half a bulb of garlic
1x1 inch knob of ginger
1x1 inch knob of galangal/lam keong (optional)
Water, enough to get the stuff going
*you can make a large amount of this paste for keeps. This is the basic base for any curry.

Other dry ingredients:
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 teaspoon mustard seeds
5 pods of cardamom
5 pieces of cloves
1 star of anise or aniseed
1 cinnamon stick (3-4inches long)
5 tablespoons of oil
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoon sugar
Method:

1. Marinate your chicken with all those ingredient for about 30mins -1 hour.
2. Heat oil on medium high heat in a pot. Add your mustard seeds, cumin seeds, cardamom, cloves, star of anise and cinnamon stick in and saute till mustard seeds starts popping.
3. Add your paste, chili powder, coriander powder and stir-fry for about 5-10 minutes.
4. Add your chicken and its entire marinate in, mix to coat well.
5. Let it simmer and stir occasionally until chicken is cooked. It'll take about 1 hour and more. Frankly, I let my curry simmer longer so that it's tastier and the flavors blend.

Ahhhh.....

So once my curry is done, I spooned some rice on my plate, pluck some of my romaine lettuces, add a dollop of sambal on the side and my curry of the other. Ahhhh.....a feast!

Warm couscous salad

Couscous Meal

I made a couscous meal the other day because I was too lazy to cook rice!

I love couscous, as it's so easy to cook - that's simply because you don't have to cook it. You just need some water, microwave it for 1 min and you have cous cous. Couscous is a type of grain that is a staple in Mediterranean cousins, especially in countries like Morroco, Tunisia, Algeria and parts of Italy. Usually, it's great with any sort of curries and salads. It makes a quick rice substitute for me.

Reason why i call this recipe a salad is because of the way I assembled it, I just toss it with the other ingredients and seasoning and it's done; ready to eat.

Recipe for Warm Couscous Salad:

1 cup of cous cous
Water
1 tsp Salt
Pepper to taste
3 tablespoon of lemon juice
A slosh of Olive oil
1/4 red onion, diced finely
1/4 cup peas, cooked
1/4 corn, cooked

Method:

1. Put the dry couscous into a big bowl and with your hands sprinkle some water into the grains and mix with your fingers. Magically, you'll see the dry couscous begin resembling fine breadcrumbs. Add a bit more water and continue to mix with your fingers until you think every grain is wet. You should have a damp texture to it.

2. Add your salt, pepper and your slosh of olive oil. Mix well again, with your fingers. I believe that it's truly important to feel your food with your fingers. I call it getting to know your food :)

3. Use a plastic wrap to cover the bowl, making sure there's a little passage way for steam to run, and put it in the microwave for 1-2 mins, depending on how powerful your microwave is. Make sure your couscous is well heated through.

4. Use a fork and fluff up your couscous again. This time add, the onions, peas and corn and lemon juice. Add more lemon juice for a more lemony taste if you want. Mix well.

5. Serve with some greek salad and curried lamb/vegetables/chicken/beef/fish.


Cook's note: Couscous is usually served with lamb kofta or any kinds of lamb/mutton curry in Morocco/Tunisia. They're very lovely together :) You can use canned peas and corn if you can't find fresh ones. You can also serve this couscous cold with some pita bread - just add more lemon juice..:)

Your own Pizza

I posted a recipe for marinara sauce previously in the All Italian post. Well, here are some pictures of pizzas I made from this sauce. It's just so useful!

The pizza dough is not the yeast type of pizza dough, i just added baking powder to make it rise a little and it works just fine. Since I like thin crust pizzas, this dough is perfect :)

My Easy Pizza Dough:

1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Enough water to make a dough

Extra flour for dough

Method:

Mix all the dry ingredient together and whisk to combine. Add water, little by little to make a dough that's easy to manage.

Once you've knead the dough into a smooth ball. Let it rest for about 10-20 mins. When any dough is well rested, it's easier to manage.

After 10-20mins, roll your dough, into approx. 0.5 cm thick, into any shape you want.

Add enough marinara sauce and top it with you favorite toppings and mozarella cheeeeeese! For a nice crunchy pizza top, sprinkle some parmesan on top :)

YUM!

All Italian

One of my favorite cuisine in the world is Italian - why? Because it's simplicity makes up for a very hearty meal with intense flavors. The few essential ingredients in an Italian kitchen is extra virgin olive oil, tomatoes, parmesan and garlic. These are the four most important ingredients in any Italian kitchen. Well, simply because MOST italian dishes uses tomatoes. Oh the Italians love their cheeses, especially parmesan, which they sprinkle onto every pasta dishes they have. I always have simple marinara sauces stored in my kitchen. It's just so useful.

The four major Italian ingredients

Here in Canada, there is a little Italy in almost every major city where the Italian immigrants live. The place is filled with Italians and the atmosphere feels almost like Italy with the colors (they love their national flag) they use in every cafe or residential area - white, green and red. But of course, you can't rarely compare the little makeshift Italies in other countries to the real Italy. Nothing beats the real deal. The properties in Italy are old, magnificient and charming. There are plenty of Italian properties for sale though, around Italy for sure, but the price range really depends on where. Location, Location, Location. If I'm rich, I'd buy myself a property there. Someday, someday :)

Anyway, back to italian cuisine. I have a very simple marinara sauce that I make in a big pot and keep in batches. It's SO useful because you can use the marinara sauce to make a great pasta meal, chicken Cacciatore or simply any oven baked casseroles that requires a tomato sauce... :) I know, it's sometimes hard to get sweet, ripe tomatoes so just use canned ones. They're much better. I use whole canned tomatoes for my recipe.

OHHH you can make your own pizza with this sauce too. Just add cheese and your fav. filling and you're good to go!


Recipe:

2 can of whole canned tomatoes
2 onions, diced as finely as you can before the sulfur gets into your eyes
7 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
Pepper to taste
2 teaspoon of Herbs (I usually use basil and oregano)

Method:

Sautee the onions and garlic until onions are transparent and tender in a big enough pot. Add your salt, sugar and pepper and saute again for about 1 min.

Pour in 2 whole cans of tomatoes into the pot and gently mash them with your spoon or whatever utensil you're using. I personally use the potato masher, they do a better job. Cook the sauce until it's simmering and add your herbs. When it's simmering lower the heat to medium.

I like to rub the herbs between my hands as I sprinkle them in because it really releases the aroma.

Lower to a simmer and let the sauce cook for about 20-30 mins.

Basic marinara sauce

After that, your marinara sauce is ready. You can add practically anything into this sauce, be it seafood, meat or just cheeses to make a cheesy tomato sauce for a pasta bake. The possibilities are endless! :)

Chocolate Souffle - The Ups and the Downs

Chocolate Souffle

As promised, I am posting pictures of the chocolate souffle that I made for dessert last night. It was good but not quite what I was expected. I was expecting chocolate goo below the crusty top but it wasn't gooey enough. However, the souffle I made was indeed soft and it melts upon contact in the mouth! :)

I will need to experiment with this basic souffle recipe again, i need it to be gooey just like the one I had in Miso.

Anyway, i used this recipe I found online in Epicurious - Chocolate Souffle

Recipe:

1/3 cup sugar plus additional for sprinkling
5 oz bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), chopped
3 large egg yolks at room temperature
6 large egg whites

Method:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Generously butter soufflé dish and sprinkle with sugar, knocking out excess.

Melt chocolate in a metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth. Remove bowl from heat and stir in yolks (mixture will stiffen).

*I put the egg yolk and chocolate mixture on the stove while it's hot so that it doesn't stiffen so much. It really helps later when you want to mix and fold the egg whites in.

Beat whites with a pinch of salt in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until they just hold soft peaks. Add 1/3 cup sugar, a little at a time, continuing to beat at medium speed, then beat at high speed until whites just hold stiff peaks. Stir about 1 cup whites into chocolate mixture to lighten, then add mixture to remaining whites, folding gently but thoroughly.

Spoon into soufflé dish and run the end of your thumb around inside edge of soufflé dish (this will help soufflé rise evenly). Bake in middle of oven until puffed and crusted on top but still jiggly in the center, for 24 to 26 minutes. Serve immediately.

The Souffle looked really puffed up in the oven. As you can see here:

The ups..

But as soon as i take them out, they start deflating almost immediately!

...and the downs

But that's expected according to websites. The souffle is made out of air bubbles and once the cold air hits the souffle, it'll start deflating. The best thing is, it doesn't compromise the taste though...:)

Dumpling Soup

I hope everyone had a wonderful time for Chinese New Year - at least, I know that no matter how bored you were/are, it's still better than mine :P

Anyway, on this cold winter's day, I felt like something simple and soothing. I wasn't feeling too great the night before with an upset tummy so I wanted something soupy. I thought I'd make some dumpling soup. I had mince meat in my fridge that is threatening to go bad if I don't use it soon enough so today's the day! I also made a vegetarian version too, because my partner is a vegetarian. And it tastes really good too, acccording to him.

The soup base is made out of carrots, daikon radish, chinese cabbage, onions, 1 tablespoon of wolfberries or keichi in chinese, 5 dried red dates, 1 aniseed, 1 teaspoon of szechuan peppercorns (or black/white peppercorns), 1 inch knob of ginger, salt & pepper. No meat or bones but with the veges, esp the chinese cabbage, it is enough to "sweeten" the soup into a clear, tasty and healthy broth. I top the soup off with a bit of fried garlic bits and oil so that it rounds up the flavor into a very fragrant soup for later.

And to make an otherwise simple recipe, well, simple, i had to make my own dumpling skin. I didn't have any dumpling skin at hand. And since i had flour and eggs, I thought i might as well make some skins myself. Anyway, feel free to use pre-made dumpling skin if you'd like. You can get wanton skin too if you'd like your dumpling to have a wanton-y, silky feel to it. Read this to know the difference between wanton and dumplings.

Recipe for filling

Meat version:
250g mince pork

pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon soysauce

1 teaspoon sugar

sesame oil

1 tablespoon cornflour

Method:

Mix all the ingredients together and let it sit in the fridge for an hour or until you're ready to useit.

Vegetarian version:

250grams mock mince meat + tofu

1 tablespoon cornflour

1tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon salt

sesame oil

1 teaspoon sugar

pepper

Method:

Mix everything together and store until ready to use.

To make the dumpling, just fill them in and pinch to close all ends. I just use wonton style cos they're easier - as you can see in the picture above.

And here's how they turn out to be when cooked:

And here's how it looks after i take my first tantalizing bite!

This is an very clean sort of comfort food that's easy on your digestive system when you're under the weather. You can add a bit of veggies to it too - i added baby Bok Choy to it.

I think i feel a whole lot better already :)

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR

Here's wishing all of you a Prosperous, Happy, Healthy, Wonderful, Year of the Pig!
*oink*oink*

With Love,
A Series of Kitchen Experiments




*pic from The Expedited Writer's family archive

The Valentine Meal

Today, we went out for a little Valentine's Dinner at this posh restaurant 10 mins away from our place. And I must say the food is well worth every penny. It's a Japanese-Fusion restaurant called Miso. It's got great reviews online as well as from word of mouth. My lawyer even said that she loved the place a lot and told us to take extra cash so that we can order extra. We don't usually celebrate Valentine's Day to this extent but dinner tonight was the opening show for what's to come later..;) Don't get too creative now...:)

Anyway, the main purpose of this entry is the food in Miso. We couldn't order everything because portions were quite big and filling. Each of us ordered an appetizer, 2 sushi mains and dessert. What I liked is the way they served us our mains - because we both ordered sushi, they placed all of our order together in a very nice plate. It's very innovative and communally comforting in the same time. I have to rave about my dessert...it's SOO good...it's perhaps the best chocolate souffle I have ever had. I thought the portion was rather small but at one bite, I know why it's portioned so small; it's very sinfully rich! It was the perfect ending to a perfect meal.

Well, without further ado, i'll let the pictures do the talking!

Appetizers

His - Carré tofu (soft tofu fried in wheat starch and doused with ginger soy sauce)

Hers - Rouleaux (Spring rolls with fillings "inspired by the moment")
I think it was all veggies!

Mains

The Main Platter

His - Avocado Roll
Simple and refreshing

His (Left) & Hers (Right)
Left - Eden Garden is one of Miso's memorable rolls. It contains heart of palm, aparagus, sweet potato tempura, avocado, lettuce, oshiko and wasabi sauce.
Right - Ebi Tempura Maki. It contains shrimp tempura, massago, avocado, lettuce and spicy sauce.
We thought our sushis were excellent. The mixture of flavors in Eden Garden and the ensemble of Ebi Tempura was just perfect. It's perhaps better than the Ebi Tempura I use to always have in Minami, Dunedin when i was a student.


Hers - Grilled Scallop and Sea Urchin Inigirin. This is the star of my night. I have never tasted anything like this before. The sweetness of the scallop mixed with the richness of the sea urchin (it's its reproductive organs) was amazing to my tastebuds. I would definitely order this when I go to Miso again!

Dessert

His - Tri-Sorbet (tropical fruits, mango, pear).
This is perhaps the weakest link because the sorbets paled in comparison to the rest of the dinner.

Hers - Chocolate Souffle. Mmmmmmmm it's SO rich I would risk the cold weather just to have it again :)

Dinner tonight was really excellent. It wasn't that expensive too in my opinion. The ambiance of the place is very calm and inviting. A touch of red in its decor's theme adds a sense of class to it too. Actually, the entire restaurant felt like it's latest club in Sex and The City that only Samantha has a special pass to..LOL! So if any of you are dropping by Montreal for a visit, I'll bring you to Miso :D

Green Eggs and Ham

Green Eggs and Ham is one of the most beloved children's book in the world by Dr. Seuss. And what does a children's book gotta do with my kitchen? Well, only the green eggs part. I had a craving for green food all of a sudden; I wanted to eat kale or kailan in Chinese, baby bok choy with dark green leaves, broccoli, green leafy veggies, green candy, green gum, green everything! And so, just a few days ago, I decided I felt like green eggs and ham sausages (because I don't have ham) with some ceasar salad and boiled green broccauli (yes broccoli and cauliflower hybrid). It was a very green meal indeed.

My green eggs and ham sausages

Here's a green yearning,
That ended with a little cooking,
Of a very interesting,
Meal of green egg-lings!


Okay, i tried to make it rhyme since it's a Dr. Seuss and all. Egg-lings probably didn't belong there but it helped rhyme my little poem hehe. The eggs are in the center of the platter in case you can't make out what is what since it's all green.

Anyway, here's how I made my eggs green:

Ingredients:

2 eggs
1 tablespoon of pesto*
a dash of pepper and salt to taste
1 quarter red onion

Method:

1. Beat eggs together with the rest of the ingredients and cook as you would an omelette.
2. Serve as it is or together with some ham/sausages (and salad, if you're having this for dinner *grins*)


*Pesto - pesto in general means a paste in italian. I made my pesto with garlic, chives and fresh parsley. Season generously with salt and a bit of pepper. Blend them together with olive oil until it becomes a paste. Store and keep well.

Five Spiced Wonder Ribs

Okay, i made the name up because I made this recipe up. I had leftover pork ribs that I didn't use in my Bak Kut Teh so I thought hard and good about what else I could make with the ribs. I wanted them to be soft and succulent. In short, I wanted the meat to fall of its bones. And if experience serve me well, i know yoghurt tenderizes meat a lot. And thus, with yoghurt and my home made five spice powder as my main ingredients, I came up with this:


In all its glistening, caramelized glory, this is my Five Spice Wonder Ribs. It's very simple to make because you don't need to give it much attention. You only need patience hehe. This dish will test your patience because it looks SO good you might not be able to hold yourself back from picking on it.

I used 250g of pork ribs because that's all i had left; that means i had about 4 pieces of long ribs. You can choose to halve it but I didn't do that because i don't have a cleaver. Anyway, this recipe is best made at night, after the dinner, a few hours before you go to bed..:)

What you need is relatively simple:

1 Ziplock bag
2 tablespoon five spice
1 tablespoon coriander powder
2 tablespoon brown sugar
5 tablespoon of plain yoghurt
1 tablespoon of salt
1 red onion sliced thinly

250gram of pork ribs

Method:
1. Open your ziplock bag and dump all the ingredients except the ribs, zip it shut and squish well to mix.

2. Put your ribs in and squish some more.

3. Leave it on the counter to marinate for 2 hours before you pop it into the fridge overnight.

4. Next day, heat a deep pan. Take out the ribs from the fridge and shake of the excess marinate. Keep the marinate in the bag.

5. Sear each piece of ribs on the pan until it's brown on the sides. Pour the marinate into the pan and lower the heat to let it simmer for about 20 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of water/broth if you have any. Simmer for another 5 mins. Preheat oven to 130 C or 265 F.

6. Transfer ribs into a baking dish, along with it's sauce and pop it into the oven for 3 hours to let it slow cook. You don't even need to check on it - just go on with your life as if there is nothing cooking in the kitche for 3 hours :P

7. Serve with steamed white rice.

The sauce will thicken into a beautiful caramel brown while the meat will cook into perfection that as soon as you sink your teeth in, the meat just practically falls off the bone.

You should have 4 cleans rib bones after you're done eating :) At least I did :D

In all of its four facets of yum!

I had to take more pictures of it, it looks so gorgeous to me. I will definitely make this again! :)

P.S: Just double or triple the marinate for more ribs but just add an extra tablespoon of yoghurt for every four ribs added after.. :)

Lemon Meringue Pie

Lemon Meringue Pie

This is one of those desserts that will have you craving over and over again simply because of its refreshing taste that's neither too sweet nor too sour. Lemon Meringue Pie, my love, his love, our love...yum! The pie practically melts in your mouth at every bite, making it truly delightful :)

Anyway, I made lemon meringue pie the other day because I had too many lemons, too many eggs and one too many frozen pie crusts. Since my partner and I both love lemon meringue pies, I've decided to just make one. It's not very hard to make actually, it's just slightly time consuming. I forgot whose recipe it is... i got it over the internet few years back and I started eyeballing the recipe since. I know I add a lot more lemon zest than required because I want mine to be real lemony.

So anyway, here comes the recipe:-

Ingredients:

1 9-inch prepared pie crust

Lemon Filling:
4 egg yolks (reserve whites for meringue)
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest (roughly 2 lemons, and my lemons are huge! That coin is the equivalent to 10sen..:P)

Meringue Topping:
4 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 tablespoon of granulated sugar



Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Whisk egg yolks in medium size mixing bowl and set aside.

3. In a medium saucepan, combine cornstarch, water, sugar, and salt. Whisk to combine. Turn heat on medium and, stirring frequently, bring mixture to a boil. Boil for 1 minute.

4. Remove from heat and gradually, 1 whisk-full at a time, add hot mixture to egg yolks and stir until you have added at least half of the mixture.

5. Return egg mixture to saucepan, turn heat down to low and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 more minute.

6. Remove from heat and gently stir in butter, lemon juice, and zest until well combined. Pour mixture into pie shell and top with meringue while filling is still hot.

7. Let the mixture sit in the shell, while you make your meringue. Place egg whites and cream of tartar a bowl and mix with a whisk or a hand mixer. Beat till egg whites is really foamy and then gradually add sugar. Continue beating until stiff peaks form.

8. Use the meringue as the topping. Make sure meringue completely covers filling and that it goes right up to the edge of the crust. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until meringue is golden. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Make sure pie is cooled completely before slicing.

Oouch, it's a little burned on the peaks but it's still good :)

I know Cold Storage in Malaysia sells lemon meringue pies frozen for like 35 ringgit++..which is a total rip off... it's probably imported too but what the hey, RM35 for any pie is expensive. I'd say make your own, it'll probably come to less than RM15. Here in Canada they sell lemon meringue pie for about $10 - $13 in shops.

p.s. The main picture is a picture i got off a culinary college website, I couldn't get a nice cut of my piece even though it tastes better than it looks on a plate hehehhe.

Lunch: Spicy Smoked Salmon and Shrimp Pasta

Spicy smoked Salmon and Shrimp Pasta

I felt like pasta for lunch. Something quick and yummy so I came up with this dish. I used canned smoked salmon, frozen shrimps and veggies.

Ingredients:
1 can of smoked salmon (110g), keep its oil and brine as it's really flavorful
8 medium sized cooked frozen shrimps
1 cup pasta (i used fusili)
a small handful of brocolli florettes
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon oregano
chili flakes, eyeball it
salt and pepper to taste
a bit of lemon juice to taste

Method:

1. Cook pasta in boiling salted water (1 teaspoon of salt for every cup of water used)


2. In the mean time, prepare other pasta ingredients. In a bowl, combine add smoked salmon, garlic, chiliflakes, oregano, lemon juice, salt and pepper together and let it sit on the counter while waiting for the pasta to cook.


3. A minute before the pasta is done, add in your frozen cooked shrimps and brocolli in.


4. Drain after a minute and add the other ingredients in. Toss to mix. The heat from the pasta will sweat and cook the mince garlic so you will have a very nice garlicky aroma and taste.


5. Serve and sprinkle some dried parsley for garnish if you'd like..:)

Seafood Pouch ala Decadence

Here's a very simple and yet very decadent seafood dinner. It's so simple, the only thing you should be worried about is being patient. It goes very well with noodles in simple broth of chicken/beef/vegetables.

The beauty of this is layering your seafood. I am using fresh scallops, prawns and mussels. Here's how I layered my seafood pouch:


I added a dollop of butter on top. I seasoned my scallops and prawns very simply with some salt, pepper, ginger juice and some chopped up parsley and then i added a big splash of chinese wine as liquid to steam the seafood up in the oven.

Pre-heat your oven to 400 F/200 C and put your seafood pouch in to cook for 12 minutes. What you will have is a very succulent seafood meal. Btw, never ever, overcook your scallops, please - they need to just be right. If you overcooked these fresh scallops, you might as well rehydrate those dried scallops you can get at the Chinese Herb Store. And it's nothing compare to the fresh ones in this case. How do you know when it's done right? Well, just cooked enough for you to be able to pry the meat open without much force then it is just perfect :) Once the seafood is cooked, pour all the seafood and it's juices into your bowl of noodles. Slurp away.

Of course, being Malaysian, i think a side of fresh chillies swimming soy sauce would go very well with this OR sambal will do the trick too. Mmm...i think i need to make this again.

I am afraid I am going to have to leave you guys to imagine how the finishing product looks like as I have forgotten to take pictures again when it's cooked. I was rather taken by it's decadent delish and was too hungry to remember. Let's just say looks and taste very, very delicious.

Oh, you can add any seafood you want of course but since this was all I could find in my market, scallops, prawns and mussels it is ;) Oh clams are wonderful too if you can get your hands on them!

Chocolate Anise Biscotti

You know, I don't understand why biscotties are so expensive in StarBucks, {insert country name here} . It is actually the simplest thing to make, ever! And the ingredients are really not that expensive at all. Well, with this recipe, you're going to be able to make your own biscotti in a jiff. This recipe has been a staple in my home for a while now - by a while i mean since I moved to Canada.

Chocolate Anise Biscotti

Biscotti is actually double baked biscuits. And they are usually cut into 0.5 inch to 1 inch thick before they are baked the second time. Of course, you can also slice them thinly too but then, you'd have to add another step and that is to freeze them first. But anyway, i like my biscotties thick and they are great when dunk in cold milk...mm! The italians usually flavor their biscotties with star of anise or aniseeds and that gives a bit of a woody peppermint flavor - couple that with chocolate it is absolutely to die for :) I got my recipe from Giada DiLaurentiis, star of Everday Italian. She adds 1 teaspoon of ground aniseed but I like mine with more of an Oomph! so i add 2 teaspoon and I also up the chocolate chips *wink* There is no such thing as too much of a good thing!


Chocolate Anise Biscotti

Ingredients - Can you see my ground aniseeds? :)

Ingredients:
2 cups of all purpose flour
1.5 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup of butter, soften
2 large eggs
2 teaspoon ground star of anise/aniseeds (blend about 10 in your blender as fine as you can, you'll have some extras)
1.5 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Optional:
If you'd like your biscotti to have a fruity flavor to it, adjust your chocolate chips to 1 cup and add 1/2 cup of sultanas/raisins/cranberries/any dried currants. And if you want your biscotti to have a different flavor, you can add vanilla essense/orange water/rose water/pandan flavor/etc. Oh, and if you want your biscotties nutty, just add almonds or walnuts or even hazelnuts. I just stick with the aniseed and chocolates because it's what I like best :)


Method

1. Pre-heat your oven to 350 F or 180 C. Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl to blend, I find that if you don't want to make too much of a mess sifting your flour, you can also whisk it with your metal whisk - it does the same thing.

3. Using an electric mixer/hand beater, beat the sugar and butter in a large bowl to blend. You'll get a light yellow color at the end. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time and mix well. Add the ground anise seed and mix well.

4. Add the flour mixture and this time use a spatula to mix well until blended. Stir in the chocolate chips. You will have a cookie dough that does not stick much. If you live in a warm climate and your dough gets sticky, just pop them in the fridge for 10 mins. They will be easier to manage then.

5. Divide the dough into two portions. Form each dough into roughly 8-inch-long, 3-inch-wide log. Flaten it a little with your spatula so the thickness of the dough is roughly 1 inch thick.

6. Transfer the logs side by side to the prepared baking sheet. Bake until light golden, about 30 minutes. Cool 30 minutes.

7. Place the log on the cutting board. Using a serrated knife or a very sharp knife, cut the log on a diagonal into 1/2- to 3/4-inch-thick slices. Serrated knife seems to make cleaner cuts but sharp knives does the job too.

Optional step: If you want really thin biscotties, put the cooled logs into the freezer for 1 hour. Then, take them out and slice them into very thin slices. Now, you will definitely need a VERY sharp knife to do this.

8. Arrange the biscotti cut side down on the baking sheet. Bake the biscotties until pale/yellow golden, about 15-20 minutes. Transfer the biscotties to a rack and cool completely.

These make wonderful gifts too for your relatives and friends. This recipe would yield you about 35-40 pieces. And to think Starbucks sells them for CDN1.50 each piece. They make a ton of profit. Hmm..maybe I should sell them these biscotties! :P

Bak Kut Teh - a craving satisfied

I received a parcel from my parents today and on the very same night, i had Bak Kut Teh for dinner. Well, they've been so kind to include 4 packets of Bak Kut Teh spices for me!

Bak Kut Teh is not something every Chinese knows; it's mostly a Malaysian Chinese thing (alright it's a Singaporean Chinese, Batam of Indonesia and Hat Yai of Thailand's thing too) started by the coolies who came to Malaya, now Malaysia, to work. It's basically meaty pork bones boiled in herbs such as garlic, cinnamon, star of anise, cloves and dong gui. You can read more about at wikipedia: Bak Kut Teh. The best Bak Kut Teh in my opinion are the ones from Klang. I love the steaming hot brown herby broth swimming with pork, mushrooms, tofu and innards..:) You can smell a pot of Bak Kut Teh from a kilometre away. Mmm...

Bak Kut Teh

So tonight I made Bak Kut Teh with the spices my parents sent me and it was delicious...I was in heaven...and the whole apartment smelled like the backstreets near Klang Bak Kut Teh again.

If you must know which BKT spice I was talking about, look at this picture, it's the little blue pack on the lower left corner; it reads Wonderful Bak Kut Teh. And yes, Wonderful it is :)

Since I was the only one eating, I made just enough for me. My bf who is vegetarian is contented with his corn on the cob and vegetarian spring rolls :P

Anyway this is what I added into my Bak Kut Teh:

1 sachet of Wonderful Bak Kut Teh Spice
5 chinese bowls of water; approx. 500ml of water
500 g of pork
1 bulb of garlic
1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce
2 tablespoon of light soy sauce
1 star of anise
2 tablespoon of Wolfberries or kei chi
6 dried chinese mushrooms; rehydrated with hot water
1 cup canned button mushrooms
6 pieces of tofu
salt and pepper to taste

Lettuce

Optional:
Enoki Mushrooms
Fried Tofu Skin
Tau Pok
2 teaspoon of my own blend of 5 spice powder (2 teaspoons of Szechuan, 8 star anise, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves, 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, and 1 tablespoon ground fennel seeds.)

Method:
Add everything into a pot and let it simmer for at least 1 hour. Add in the lettuce (and enoki mushroom and Tofu skin, if you're using any) just before serving as it cooks rather quickly.

Serve with white rice and a side of mince garlic with thick dark soy sauce..:)

*garlic breath*

Salmon Brochettes - Cooked

I posted a post on Salmon Brochettes - The Raw a few weeks ago because I forgot to take pictures of it after it's done. Well, i made them again for a birthday and this time i didn't forget :) Here they are!

Salmon Brochettes

They look like chicken/beef/lamb brochettes but really, it looks that way because I wrapped smoked bacon around them, hence ensuring that each and every piece of fish absorbs the smokiness of the bacon. Oh and since bacon is quite fat, it also ensures that the salmon is moist when cooked. So what you have is a taste almost like smoked salmon but moister.

Here's the recipe. It's relatively simple too and you can make this way in advance before a dinner party or something :)

Ingredients

For the fish marinate:
1 tbsp of grated ginger
2 cloves of grated garlic
1/4 cup of soy sauce
3 tablespoon of honey
1/2 teaspoon pepper

500 g of Salmon fillet, clean and cut into 1 inch chunks
10 strips of bacon or more
1 onion, quartered

bamboo skewers soaked in water for 30 minutes


Method

1. Combine the ingredients for the fish marinate together. Stir well and set aside.
2. Make sure that your salmon cubes are dry off excess water. It helps to marinate better. Put the pieces into a container.
3. Pour the fish marinate into the salmon cubes and make sure the marinate covers every bit of the pieces. Cover and marinate for 2 hours at least.
4. Take your bamboo skewers and skewer a cube of salmon and alternate with a little bit of onion, and continue until you reach the tip of the skewer.
5. take a slice of bacon and drape it around the skewered fish. Set aside and repeat step 4 and 5 till you're out of fish.
6. Let the skewers sit in room temperature for about 30 minutes before you start baking them in the oven. Pre-heat oven to 400 Fahrenheit or 205 degrees. You can also barbeque this... it's prefect for bbqs! But since it's winter where i am, i have to make do with an oven......pfft.
7. Put each skewer on a baking pan and bake for 45mins. Turn over the skewers once after 15 minutes. At the final 5 mins of the cooking time - turn the grill on and grill till the brochettes are a little brown.

Hooray!

Stuff from Msia

The CNY goodies from Malaysia are here!!! All the herbs and spices. FINALLY I HAVE PROPER CURRY POWDER! none of those sucky yellow ones that you can usually find in any western country. It's like the spices from india were boiled down to fit the western countries' taste. Blasphemy.


Thanks Mommy and Daddy :D *KISS HUGS*


P.S. Do you see that bak kut teh pack of spice over there....*drools*
P.P.S: The Tnee Kueh (Sweet cake or nian goh in mandarin) is absolutely yummy when you deepfry them in between sweet potatoes *Drools*
P.P.P.S: I LOVE PINEAPPLE TARTS
P.P.P.P.S: Look at the red cloth and lanterns...lol...man...I WILL have my CNY for sure.