Spicy Chicken Sausage with Garlic Shoots and Mushrooms

This cooking experiment was inspired by an episode from Poh's Kitchen. A celebrity chef with rising fame, Poh is a talented Malaysian-born Australian artist, actress, celebrity chef and runner-up in MasterChef Australia.

Instead of lamb, cucumber and tomato salsa, I used chicken, shitake mushroom and garlic shoots. The chicken breast meat and the mushroom were coarsely grounded (as long as it's fine enough to be shaped but not too fine) and seasoned with salt, chilli powder and black pepper. Next shaped it into the shape of a ring or doughnut, with a hollow section in the middle. Leave it in the fridge for 10-15 minutes to firm up the shape.

In the mean time, heat up a lightly greased pan and stir-fry the garlic shoots (which has been chopped up) with sliced shitake mushroom. Add a pinch of salt just before dishing it out and leave aside. Next, pan-fry the chicken ring on low to medium heat until it is cooked and golden brown. Then break an egg inside the hole of the ring and continue to let it cook (depending on how you like the egg to be done). Serve the meat on a plate and garnish it with garlic shoots and mushroom. Voila! a meal is served.

This could be a meal any time of the day, be it breakfast, lunch or dinner. I like it for brunch on weekends with a slice of toasted bread and a cup of hazelnut coffee! 

Big Breakfast

Last weekend, I made myself a special "big breakfast" without bacon, ham or sausage.  It has two slices of toasted bread, baked beans, sauteed mushroom, stir-fry French beans and what was supposedly to  be poached eggs but turned out to be hard-boiled egg. I need more practise and precision to time my poaching to perfection.

It was a filling breakfast and I think it's healthy too!
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes

Nique's Signature Dish

I miss eating Nique's hokkien mee, especially those huge and fresh succulent banana prawns - yum! The spice, aroma and taste are simply delicious! It may be time consuming to prepare the dish but the effort well worth it! I'm so proud of you Nique! Hope you will cook more often in the future ;)

Pasta with Basil Pesto

My maiden attempt in making pesto with only a bunch of basil leaves, oil and lots of sautéed garlic as ingredients. Just put all the ingredients into the blender until it forms to paste-like texture. Then, I heat up the the pan which has been lightly greased and stir-fry marinated chicken slice. Once the chicken is cooked, stir-in the pesto and let it simmer. After that, transfer the boiled pasta into the pan and mix well with the pesto. Dish out into a plate and sprinkle some chilli flakes for a little bit of spice and it is ready to serve! 

Given that I hardly have time to cook during the weekdays, this dish is simply easy and satisfactory. 

Pan-fried Salmon & Baked Beans

I love fish and it's my favourite source of protein over meat/poultry. Of all types of fish, salmon is probably my preferred choice because of its nutritious value. Unfortunately, fresh salmon is expensive and hard to find here. Thus, it's less affordable compared to other types of fish. Recently, I was lucky to come across fresh Norwegian salmon  at a local store during my grocery shopping. Without any hesitant, I bought a piece and happily thinking about dinner time. However, after all the walking and shopping, I came home feeling drop dead tired and wasn't quite motivated to do any more cooking. What do I with the salmon?

Just simply seasoned it with some lemon pepper salt, heat some oil and pan fried it until it's cooked and the oil oozes out from the corners. I made sure that the skin is really crispy too! After that, I used the same pan which was already greased with salmon oil (so flavourful!) to stir fry chopped garlic and celery. Then, pop opened a can of baked beans, stir-in the pan and get it heated a while. Voila! dinner is ready to serve! plucked some basil leaves (yes, I have a pot of fresh basils, still growing well) and garnish the dish with tinge of green. Very happy to get it all done under 30 minutes!

How I Eat Chicken Curry: Part 2 - Chicken Curry & Bread

Another way to eat chicken curry apart from having it with rice and noodle is of course with bread, especially for breakfast. I heated some leftover chicken curry and had it with a slice of wholemeal bread for breakfast to kick start my day. 

How I Eat Chicken Curry: Part 1 - Chicken Curry Noodle

Several weeks ago while I was back at my parents' place, mum cooked one of my favourite dish - Chicken Curry. Before leaving, mum had generously packed a box of chicken curry for me to take away. I stored it in the freezer for over a week just because I wanted to save it for when there's craving for spicy food.

This was how I had my chicken curry recently - with angel hair pasta which I called Chicken Curry Noodle. It was no doubt delicious and was indeed a hearty meal which reminds me so much of "home sweet home".
Some basil leave was added just to add some color to the dish and make it visually more appealing (hopefully). Nonetheless, the taste blended very well with curry!

Mum's curry recipe does not use any coconut milk which is a healthier version and it could be stored longer as well. I do not have the exact recipe but mum does use lots of onions and garlic. Other obvious ingredients were star anis, cinnamon stick, potatoes, chicken, curry power, screw pine leave, and water.

Curry Lentil & Salmon Stew

My kind of comfort food on a cold day or when I'm under the weather. 

Ingredients:

1 packet of fish curry powder

Mixed beans/lentils

Cubed russet potatoes 

Cubed salmon chunks (or canned tuna chunks as substitute)

Cubed onions / chopped garlic (optional)

800ml water

Instructions:

1. Bring 800ml water to boil in a pot

2. Pour the boiled water into the slow cooker

3. Stir in all the ingredients

4. Slow-cook for 2-3 hours or until the beans and potatoes are soft. 

Nique's: Creamy Seafood Pasta & Seafood and Chicken Vindaloo

Special post to feature Nique's cooking experiment from Down Under in his little cosy kitchen. Impressive!

Green Apple and Tuna Salad

This is a perfect dinner on one of those days when my appetite calls for something light and refreshing. 

Ingredients:

1 green apple

Buttercup Lettuce

1 can of tuna chunks in olive oil 

1 red chilli (optional)

Salt and pepper

Salt Dough Experiment

When I came across a blog post on salt dough ornaments, it was as if like a kid who got excited over a new toy. I went to the grocer the next day to buy a bag of multi-purpose flour and began my first salt dough experiment. It was an easy process from kneading to cutting the dough. The toughest challenge was drying the dough in the oven partly because I do not have a good oven with even heat circulation and low temperature. As a result, the outcome was not desirable with some burned signs on the ornaments. I attempted to mould a little mousy figurine which turned out okay but it 'suffered' from a cracked body and a burned a$$....(it's nicely hidden in the photo). Though imperfect, these little things are actually quite cute! The whole experiment was an enjoyable process and I wouldn't mind giving it another try soon. After all, there's still 3/4 bag full of flour sitting in the kitchen waiting for me to do something. 

Chicken and Peanut Sauce Sandwich

This post is a continuation from Quick Pan-fried Chicken & Spicy Peanut Sauce which I've posted last week. 

I fixed a quickie brunch the following day using leftover chicken and peanut sauce as filling for a 6-inch wholemeal baguette. 

Prawn & Clam Pasta

This is an easy-to-make pasta to satisfy my carbohydrate craving. By now, it's quite apparent that I'm a hopeless carbohydrate junkie from my blog posts thus far.

Ingredients:
Angel hair pasta
Canned clams
De-shelled prawns
Chopped garlic
Fresh basil leaves
Garlic-infused oil

Steps:
1. Boil the pasta in salt water (al dente)
2. Heat the pan with garlic-infused oil
3. Brown the chopped garlic, stir in the clams and prawns
4. Pour in the boiled pasta
5. Add a pinch of salt and cracked black pepper to taste
6. Throw in the basil leaves and other herbs as you desire.

Quick Pan-fried Chicken & Spicy Peanut Sauce

Inspired by one of the Malaysian famous delicacies called Satay, I was motivated to try making skewered pan-fried chicken (marinated overnight, any choice of sauce) with chunky peanut sauce. It's a quick dish to make provided that the chicken meat has been pre-marinated.

Peanut sauce:
Grounded peanuts
Curry/Chilli paste
Water
Sugar, Salt and Pepper to taste

Garnishing:
Sliced Onion (lightly sautéed)

Yummy and filling snack, great appetizer!

Tuna and Egg Sandwich

Quick and easy. Mixed all the ingredients below and dinner is served! This is my dinner, what's yours?
Ingredients:
1 wholemeal baguette
Shredded egg omelette
Tuna flakes
Chopped cilantro

Pasta in Spicy Peanut Sauce

It was a crazy idea I had to blend some mixed nuts and make my own spicy peanut sauce. Thankfully it did not turned out as bad as I thought but the pasta was a little bland. 

Sauce:

Grounded nuts

Chilli paste

Garlic infused oil

Chopped garlic and onions 

A little bit of water 

Salt and pepper

Ingredients:

Boiled pasta - al dente

Prawns 

Chicken meat 

It's worth trying and perfecting the taste again! So, I may consider cooking this very soon. 

Nique's: Indian Chicken Curry

Nique's most recent cooking experiments were chicken vindaloo and chicken tikka. They are both indian curry dishes, rich in spices and flavour. Since I did not have the privilege to savour the dishes, I could only do a search on the internet about the differences between these two dishes. Vindaloo is usually a chicken or lamb curry dish mixed with potatoes and it is spicy, whereas tikka which means meat, is usually chicken cutlets in marinade (a combination of aromatic spices and yoghurt). 

Basil Omelette & Toasted Bread

This was my quick "breakfast for dinner" last night. Love the basil leaves from dad's little garden. 

Prawn Cocktail

I collected quite a few apples and pears from my workplace last week (no, I don't work in a fruit farm, but the company where I work for is kind enough to distribute fruits to all its employee daily in an effort to promote healthy eating plan). Not wanting to waste them, I came up with an idea to make tomato and apple salad with grilled prawns. The outcome was surprisingly delectable though there's always room for improvement on taste and flavour. I had it with toasted baguette slice for dinner and I like it.

Easy to make recipe:
1. Cut 2 tomatoes into wedges
2. Cut 1/2 capsicum into smaller chunks
3. 3-4 cloves of garlic
4. Mix 1, 2, 3 in a bowl and season with salt, pepper, chilli powder, and a dash of cooking oil
5. Wrap it in a foil and bake in the oven for 30 minutes (ahh, the aroma of grilled/baked vege!!)
6. Cut apples into small cubes and set aside.
7. Season prawn with salt, and pepper.
8. Heat the greased pan and grill the prawns until lightly browned
9. Unwrap the foil and pour the baked vegetable into a bowl. Make sure the tomato, capsicum and garlic are soft enough to be mashed. Then stir-in the cubed apples
10. Arrange the prawns around the so-called "tomato and apple salad", ready to serve!!

It's an explosion of flavour in the mouth, the sweetness from the apples, sourness from the tomatoes, crispy and juicy texture from the prawns with an earthy smell....all at the same time!

Fruit Platter - Red Pitaya and Mandarin Oranges

This was my dinner one of the days last week when I did not have much appetite for a full meal. I had one large red pitaya or more commonly known as the dragon fruit and a mandarin orange. It surely filled up my tummy after finishing a plateful of fruits. 

Nique's: Stir-fry Chicken and Bok Choy

Another post featuring Nique's successful experiment. This time it was a simple yet balanced meal - stir fry chicken and bok choy with rice. Doesn't it look mouth-watering and delicious? I could see pieces of lean chicken meat, prawns, onion, soy sauce seasoning, and vegetable from the photo. I believe it smells and tastes as good as it looks 

Happy Valentine's Day

I found these beautiful 'love' origami -  made out of different paper material including a $50 dollar note :) in my treasure box when I was going through some personal collectibles. These lovely heart-shaped origami were given to me on different occasions many years ago and I still cherish them till this very day because they were special to to me, and they meant something dear to me. I thought it would be appropriate to post this on the blog in conjunction with Valentine's Day. Love, is the greatest gift of all in the world.
Happy Valentine's Day!

Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none

~ William Shakespeare ~

Old Town White Coffee

After much persistent persuasion, I finally convinced Nique to visit 1st Avenue Mall after its grand opening. It was my second visit to the mall and there were definitely more retailers than before. I like the atmosphere and layout because it's easy to window-shop without getting lost and confused. Though I had my eyes on a couple of items, no purchase was made since I was not sure about my desire and need for those items. Before we left the mall, Nique requested for Old Town's famous toasted bread with kaya spread and so we ended up in Old Town White Coffee cafe to have a little snack! I love Old Town white coffee minus the froth. 

Chinese New Year Collection

The Chinese New Year celebration for 2012 had officially ended last week. Here's a photo of my Chinese New Year cookies tin collection. The golden tin is my favourite and I like its vintage look.

Mushroom Soup & Toasted Bread

Sweet Potato Chips

I had one sweet potato sitting on my kitchen top for almost a week and I didn't know what to do with it. At last, I decided to make baked spicy sweet potato chips for snack. Easy-peasy and all done in a jiffy....yum!
However, it didn't turn out crispy enough. Perhaps I should bake it a little longer next time.

Then, I felt like getting drunk, so I had a can of Anglia Shandy - all by myself! But no, it didn't get me drunk. I just wanted to have something lemony to quench my thirst and this was the only drink I have in the fridge.

Sweet potato chips:
- Sweet potato - thinly sliced
- Seasoning: Salt, chilli powder, a dash of cooking oil. 

Penang Food

Clockwise from left: Chinese Fried Rice, Nasi Kandar, Roti Tissue

Nique and my sis are finally back in Penang for Chinese New Year celebration! - Yay! It's been a long-awaited arrival. Nique decided to have his first meal in Penang at Song River restaurant. We ordered a pot of flavourful Bak-kut-teh and a plate of tasty fried rice to satisfy Nique's craving for (a list of) local food. Next item to check off the list was the famous Nasi Kandar at Kayu. The following day, my sis requested to have Roti Tissue for breakfast upon her arrival, so we made a quick stop at Kayu again to fill her stomach. 

Chocolate Indulgence

It was a perfect Saturday afternoon spending some time with loved ones and indulging on a piece of rich and moist chocolate cake topped with vanilla ice-cream. What a lovely (yet sinful) indulgence on a hot day!

What does it feel like today?

Sometimes picture paints a thousand words and it could be interpreted differently. This photo of the Orang Utan was taken at Taman Safari Indonesia Cisarua Bogor during a recent vacation in Indonesia. Doesn't it seem as if the Orang Utan is saying ...

- "Where are you people? I'm so bored...."
- "Stop bothering me, I'm feeling lazy today...."
- "ahh....I'm so tired after a long day at 'work'..."

Fruit Bruschetta

My attempt to make cute and delicate fruit bruschetta failed miserably but the only consolation was that it didn't taste as bad as its appearance. It was an easy-to-make snack and healthy finger food (ahh, I love finger food!) I like the hints of saltiness from the butter and cheese, sweetness from the succulent grapes, and a little sourness from the crispy green apples. The oven-toasted baguette slice gave a crunchy texture to complement the snack too!

Invisible Wings

Last Christmas night, my sister belted out her rendition of Invisible Wings by Angela Zhang in a karaoke session. I watched her sang in awe the very moment she began to sing. It was such a meaningful song sung so beautifully and I was completely immersed in it. Certainly a song that I hold close to my heart and it almost bring tears to my eyes.

2012

Another year has come and gone yet again. All in all, despite some ups and downs in 2011, I thank God for a year of blessings. It was a great year - happy times and sad times, sweet memories to cherish and lessons to be learned. Hopefully 2012 is going to be an exciting year ahead. I look forward to usher the new year with new hope and new attitude. It will be a year of change - I shall put my trust in God and let the breath of the holy spirit blow me to where I will be. Happy New Year!

Above: Taken in Penang Hill - One of the bungalows on the hill.