Prawn Crackers or Kerupok

Well it is about time I learn to make this snack. It is normally serve around Hari Raya and Chinese New Year in Asian and even overseas now that more people have emigrated from Asia to Europe, Canada, America, and Australia. These chips have to be dried and then deep fried in very hot oil which will expand considerably. It is also good to serve it with beer, peanuts, and acar. Will tell you the final result later.

Shrimp Alfredo and Turkey

Turkey about 4-7 kg I baste it with some olive oil, lots of seasoning salt, thyme, sage, and let it sit for couple of hours before I bake in the oven of 375º for about 21/2 hours or until oven thermometer reads 170º. In between time I baste the turkey as well with the turkey dipping. Do not overcook your turkey. Turkey was moist and whatever left over I sliced them and between slices I add some of the turkey juice/dipping then I store in an airtight container. The next day it is ready for delicious turkey sandwiches. Yummy no complaint about turkey being dry at all! Shrimp Alfredo with mushroom soup. Salad is just tomatoes wedges, sliced red onion, and cucumber slices with vinegar, olive oil, salt, and some chopped dill.

Peony

Peony is always a welcoming sight. Some will support its stems other I had to provide some sort of anchor. The color is breathtaking especially this one. It is more like neon and rain does not blemished their petals which is also a bigger advantage so it prolonged its beauty.

Curry Buns

I did the dough mix last night and woke up at 6:30 am to bake it. By 8:00 am it is ready for our son Marcus before he goes to school . I used leftover curry puff filling from the previous day. I didn't let the dough rise again for long as I was running out of time and bake it right away after 10 minutes. On a final note brush the buns with egg wash and when it is all baked brush it with sugar solution (sugar and water diluted).

Here is the recipe intended for steam buns, incase you want to try it out from Huang Su Huei
1/4 cup sugar
13/4 cup warm water
1 Tb yeast

6 cups flour
2 Tb shortening

Dissolve sugar in warm water, add yeast. Let the liquid stand for ten minutes. The yeast will foam into a head and rise to the top.

Sift flour, add shortening and mix together with ingreidents prepared in step 1 earlier.

Knead dough into a ball.

Remove dough from bowl. Add flour or water if necessary.

Knead dough until smooth and elastic.

Place dough in a clean bowl and cover with a damp cloth.

Let dough rise (in a warm place) for 2-4 hours until it has doubled or tripled in bulk.

Roll out on a greased table and cut into individual balls. Add filling and brush with egg wash. Bake at 375F until it is lightly brown. Then brush with sugar solution. Viola.

Roasted Chicken with Herbs

I thought why not make something rather fast and easy. Here it is marinated with seasoning salt, thyme, sage, garlic inserted inside the cavity of the bird with some seasoning salt. While cooking I brushed it with some olive oil. Serve with some fresh salad. It wasn't complicated at all. The dip from the chicken can be thicken with some flour if you wish but I think it has lots of chicken fat which you can filter it out first if you prefer. I didn't cut the chicken up instead I ripped it little bits at a time. You know using your fingers like those cowboys in the old days. :) I am amazed how much I enjoyed doing it! :)

Beef Stew

Nigella inspired me to make this beef stew. I was watching her TV cooking show yesterday and why not do this today. I didn't use the stout or beer like she had suggested and I added some thyme and dill instead of sage and bay leaves. I couldn't find my supply of bay leaves so I omitted it entirely. When it is done after cooking on slow fire for about 21/2 hours add some vegeta seasoning and your frozen peas. Let it simmer for a few minutes to prevent the peas from being overcook. Serve it with a fresh loaf of crusty bread. Yum.

Chicken Satay

Surfing through the net does help and gives me some idea what to cook. Not much to do so I tried this recipe. I didn't have much of anything per se like thawed meat except for 1 whole chicken. First I debone the chicken, discard any trace of skin and marinate it for couple of hours with cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, chili powder, tamarind juice, sugar, salt and minced garlic. Note: For future reference this could use a little bit more seasoning like salt and sugar and add in some chicken skin. This time not to forget to make the satay gravy as well.

Mount Royal Plum Tree

I am quite pleased this year we had lots of fruits from this particular tree. When we started it was only the size of a pencil, a sucker from my italian neighbor's garden. It took approximately 4-5 years and perseverance before we managed to harvest quite a basketful of fruits.

My first attempt at making pineapple jam.

2 pineapple in a food processor
1 tsp cloves
1 stick cinnamon stick
pinch of salt.

Blend until quite fine.

I had to cook it for at least 2 -3 hours stirring constantly so it doesn't stick and burn on the bottom.

Pork Chop over Rice

I tried making this similar to the one I had at one of our local restaurant. That was many years ago and trying to get the same taste is almost impossible and back then it was served over fried rice. The chop is tenderized marinated and then deep fried.

Pork Tenderloin with Tomatoes and Sugar Peas

Here it goes

Pork tenderloin sliced and marinated with light soya sauce and black pepper

2 medium size tomatoes cut into wedges

Sugar peas washed and remove the ends

2 cloves garlic and 2 shallot minced.

1 1/2 Tb oyster sauce

1 tsp cornstarch

1/4 cup water

Coat tenderloin with some cornstarch. Heat pan and fry the tenderloin slices until it is cooked and removed from the pan. Stir in minced garlic and shallots sautee for a few seconds then add in the vegetables. Stir for a 2-3 minutes then add in some water. Note: water will depend on the liquid from the tomatoes as well. You can reduce if you like. Let it simmer then stir in the cooked meat when you are ready to scoop it up over each individual rice plate.

Fried Bee Hoon - Rice Vermicilli

Last Friday I invited two of my younger sisters to come over for chicken tonic (chicken with a bowl of minced ginger, some dried chinese dates cooked with Martini Rossi and Glutinuous Rice wine. My son Marcus and two nieces didn't care for it so they had this simple rice vermicilli instead.

Wedding cake

Finally I am able to do a wedding cake. The bottom layer is banana cake with peanut butter and chocolate from Marcel Desaulniers "Death by Chocolate Cakes and the top cake is a glace fruit cake from "The Essential Guide to Cake Decorating" substitute sweet sherry with pear liqueur. Normally I prefer it with rum. On a personal note I didn't care for the glace fruit cake recipe.

Chiew Yim Crab

I made this for CNY dinner. It is with red and green bell pepper. Since my son Marcus doesn't like it spicy I omitted chillies.

Koh Lo Mein

Earlier in the day I made some char siew from home instead of store bought. I have ground pork, char siew slices, choy sum, and some wonton individually pack in wax brown paper. Note: I like extra gravy on the ground pork.

Improvised - Pickeled Green Chillies from Kuali

300 g green chillies

1/2 cup vinegar

1 cup boiled water, cooled

1 Tb salt

5 Tb granulated sugar/castor sugar or more depending on how sweet you want the chillies to be.

Wash and drain chillies well in a plastic sieve or colander.

Cut chillies into thin round slices and put it one side for later.

Pour warm water over the sliced chillies. Drain well and place chillies on absorbent kitchen paper. Place the sliced chillies in a glass jar.

Mix vinegar, water, salt, sugar, until sugar dissolved. Pour mixture into the jar to picke the chillies. Note: the chillies will be ready the next day and refrigerate.