It has been quite a long while since I last posted. Feels good to start clicking at the keyboard again. The past month has been pretty eventful not to mention the lack of sleep due to 2 under-the-weather children taking turns to have their ‘go’ at mom. Anyway that’s over now and most importantly I have gulai to share.

My mobile market brought me some very fresh baby stingrays. It has been a while since I last cooked this dish. Memory is blurr but slowly coming back as I imagine the sweetness of the spices, the spicy flavour and the sharpness of the curry. I am so glad I am a recipe blogger, if not I would not remember much of my food when I reach my golden years. Now writing down recipes seems to be a total bore. 

Ingredients

4 pcs of 200 gm baby stingrays (chop into 3 portions)

12 dried chilies (soaked in hot water and seeded)

3 medium size lemongrass (cut into 3 inches length and bruised)

1 inch fresh tumeric (skin scraped off and sliced) or 1 Tbsp tumeric powder

15 shallots (skinned)

5 cloves of garlic (skinned)

1 Tbsp toasted fresh belacan

2 medium size ginger flower (one halved, the other sliced thinly)

2 Tbsp assam paste (soaked in 400ml hot water)

3 ripe red tomatoes (halved)

1 large onion (quartered)

6 lady fingers

sea salt

sugar

oil

Method

1. Blend dried chili, fresh tumeric, shallots and garlic together.
2. Add oil in a heated claypot, stir the blended ingredients and toasted belacan until fragrant.
3. Put in 1 Tbsp of sugar and stir till the oil is separated from the ingredients. Take extra care not to burn the blended ingredients.
4. Pour in the strained assam water, stirring constantly. Add the halved ginger flower and lemongrass. Simmer for 10 minutes and add in tomatoes and quartered onion. Simmer another 10 minutes.
5. Put in the stingray pieces and simmer for 10 minutes then add lady fingers, bring to boil for 2 -3 minutes. Stir the gulai and season with salt.
6. Remove the halved ginger flower and garnish with the sliced ginger flower.
7. Serve immediately.

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Here is something very simple and nice to eat. This is my basic chocolate marble cake. I make a lot of variation from this basic recipe. Just like the other day, I turned it into an apple, dried cranberry and pistachio cake. Anyway, this one’s for you guys over in Melbourne, Kareen and Joyce and all marble cake lovers out there! Dig in!

Ingredients

250 gm soft butter

100 gm castor sugar

250 gm plain flour

1/2 tsp soda bicarbonate

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

170 gm semi bitter chocolate bar (softened)

4 large eggs

Method

1. Preheat healsio or oven at 180 degree celsius. 
2. Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
3. In another bowl, sieve plain flour, soda bicarbonate and baking powder together.
4. Soften chocolate over some hot water, please do not melt.  I used 75% cocoa chocolate bars.
5. Alternate egg and flour into the butter batter. Mix evenly.
6. Scoop out 2 small ladles of batter into a small bowl and add in the softened chocolate. Mix well.
7. Pour out 1/2 of the butter batter into a prepared 23cm x 13cm cake tin. Dollop randomly with chocolate batter and some butter batter. Cover some top portion with butter batter. Use a butter knife and swirl the chocolate batter into the butter batter. Do not over swirl.
8. Pop it into the healsio or oven and bake for 30 minutes. Test with cake skewer. Turn out cake onto a wire rack to cool.

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I was browsing recipe books when I found this rather interesting dish of leeks. The recipe book calls it ‘leeks a la grecque’ and it uses greek method in preparing the vegetable. I love trying out new recipes from time to time mainly because I get to taste it instead of just staring at it and not knowing how it taste like. At least now I know I like it.

I got myself some local leeks, washed, with the upper green part and the roots trimmed. After trimming the roots, make a crisscross cut at the bottom of the leeks.

Ingredients

8 leeks (refer to the above for preparation)

3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp tomato paste

1 Tbsp tomato puree

2 tsp brown sugar

2 bay leaves (bruised)

2 sprigs of lemon thyme

3 cloves garlic (crushed)

5 coriander seeds (slightly crushed)

5 black peppercorns (crushed)

100 ml white wine

juice of half a lemon

a dash of balsamic vinegar

Method

1. In a large sauce pan, put in olive oil, tomato paste, puree, bay leaves, lemon thyme, garlic, coriander seeds, peppercorns and approx. 250ml filtered water. Bring to boil, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
2. Slowly, add in the trimmed leeks in a single layer and continue to simmer. Make sure it is on low heat and cover with a lid. Simmer for 30 minutes until the leeks are soft and tender.
3. Take out the gravy soaked leeks carefully and place on a flat serving dish.
4. Add white wine, balsamic vinegar and freshly squeezed lemon juice to the gravy. Increase heat to thicken gravy until syrupy in texture. Pour over the neatly arranged leeks.
5. Can be served hot or cold.

The above recipe has been modified to suit my tastebuds.

This is a pungent mixture of anchovies, garlic and black olives. Best eaten with toasted baguette or french loaf. There is no cooking involved, just some grinding in the mortar and pestle. Reminds me of sambal belacan really! except this is French and the latter is Malaysian.

How I got to make this for lunch? My son now knows how to turn effortlessly and is starting to crawl. Gosh! I needed something quick and requires no cooking. Nevertheless, I had a great lunch just snacking on toasts with the ever trusted anchoiade paste.

Ingredients

1 can of anchovies in olive oil (56 gm)

2 large cloves garlic

20 kalamata black olives (pitted)

3 red baby tomatoes (seeded)

a sprig of lemon thyme

extra-virgin olive oil

Method

1. Chop tomatoes, garlic, olives and thyme finely. Place all these ingredients into a mortar and add in anchovies and all the olive oil in the can.
2. Grind till all ingredients combine into a coarse paste, adding some extra-virgin olive oil if the paste is too thick. Just nice for spreading will be a good consistency.
3. Toast baguette or french toast slices and spread butter and anchoiade on them.
4. Great with a hot cup of freshly brewed black coffee.

Ran out of ideas of what to cook the other day. Yes, I too have those days when I try my hardest to WILL food into existance just by a blink of an eye. Had some pork ribs in my trusted freezer but no recipes found in my head. Decided to take a chance. Thankfully it turned out pretty good and I might just whip it up again sometime.

Ingredients

600 - 700 gm pork ribs (3″ length)

2 Tbsp dark soya sauce

4 Tbsp light soya sauce

5 cloves of garlic

a generous drizzle of olive oil

1 small cinnamon stick (lightly crushed)

2 large star anise

60 gm rock sugar (crushed)

200 - 250 ml filtered hot water

4 peeled hard boiled eggs

Method

1. Marinade pork ribs in half the soya sauces for a few hours in the fridge.
2. Heat up a non-stick saucepan and drizzle in olive oil.
3. Fry garlic cloves for 1 minute. Add spices and fry another minute.
4. Put in the ribs and stir till the ribs are slightly brown, lower heat, then add in the remaining soya sauces, rock sugar and water. Stir until sugar dissolved, simmer for 20 minutes on low heat uncovered and stirring from time to time.  This is to let some liquid evaporate thus creating a thicker gravy.
5. Cover with a lid and simmer for another 40 - 50 minutes. Checking frequently to avoid gravy from totally drying up and burning the contents. If gravy is rapidly drying up, add a little more hot water and stir.
6. When almost ready, put in eggs and stir until well coated with gravy.
7. Ribs are ready when thoroughly cooked through, meat is tender, ribs well coated with thick gravy.

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I hosted a casual dinner get-together for some family members just the other day. Since all of us were so busy with our tight schedules, we hardly had any time to meet up. Since everyone had to eat sometime or another, what could be a better time than Dinner.

I wanted something easy to make and tasty to gobble for a starter so here’s my ‘idiot proof’ appetiser.

10 thinly sliced honey baked ham

Danish Mozarella cheese (I did not use Italian mozarella since there was a call back)

some wild rocket leaves or fresh dill

1. Find a clean and dry place to organise your ingredients. Wash your hands thoroughly since this requires finger-handling.
2. Slice ham into 2 equal portions (20 pieces)
3. Cut mozarella cheese into 2″ long and 2/3″ wide sticks. Place 1 stick at the end of each slice of ham.
4. Place a rocket leaf or a sprig of fresh dill on the cheese and gently roll them together. Place them on a serving dish or keep refrigerated if served later.

Ask me what a clafoutis is 5 months ago, I would have answered you “Uh?” until I was eagerly looking forward to recipes by pastry chef Anna Olson on ‘Sugar’ during my last trimester, only then I knew what this lovely dessert was all about. The truth is when I was 15kg heavier then my normal self and craving for sugar high, any desserts that need minimum handling will rank highest on my list! CLAFOUTIS is one of them.

Ingredients

200 ml thick double cream

1 vanilla pod

125 ml fresh milk

3 large eggs

50 gm castor sugar

100 gm plain flour

1 Tbsp Brandy or Kirsch (optional)

1 can dark pitted cherries in syrup (drained)

icing sugar (for dusting)

Method

1. Preheat Healsio or Oven at 180 degree celsius.
2. Pour cream into a thick bottom saucepan. Slice vanilla pod into 2, lengthwise and scrap out all the seeds. Throw in seeds and pod into the cream and heat gently for 2 -3 minutes. Remove from heat and pour in the fresh milk and strain into a clean bowl and leave to cool.
3. With an electric beater whisk eggs, sugar and slowly add flour. Pour this batter into the cooled cream, add brandy or kirsch and drained cherries. Fold all contents evenly with a spatula.
4. Pour into a prepared round dish approx. 23 cm in diameter and bake for 40 minutes or until slightly golden on top. Note : The dish you bake in, maybe the one you want to serve the clafoutis in.
5. Leave clafoutis to cool and dust with a generous amount of icing sugar. Clafoutis can be scooped out with a serving spoon.

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It has been way too long since I last posted. It feels good to be back. I have been greatly inspired by David Rocco’s Dolce Vita series. It’s so refreshing to watch Nina and him travel and cook his daily Italian food. Italian food is definitely more than pizza and spaghetti, there is the insalate, the florentina, the frittata and the countless types of cheeses. I am now on a mission to cook and eat Italian food at this moment.

I have always love roasted bell peppers (capsicums) but have not succumbed to making skinless roasted peppers, mainly because I did not like the idea of charring the peppers over gas burners. A healthier option would be over some charcoal fire but then again who would in a right mind would fire up a load of charcoal just for this mundane work. Lighting the charcoal itself proves to be very tedious work for me at this very moment. Anyway to cut my blabbering, I used the gas burners.

Ingredients (serves 4)
1 can of flat anchovies in olive oil

2 large yellow peppers

2 medium red peppers

a handful of black olives (seeded and halved)

a handful of yellow and red baby tomatoes (halved)

4 cloves garlic (chopped roughly)

extra virgin olive oil

1 Tbsp parsley (freshly chopped)

sea salt

black pepper

method

1. Toast the peppers over the gas burners to char the skin and immediately throw them into a big paper bag and knotted to trap the steam. This is to enable the skin of the peppers to come off easily when scrapped with a paring knife. Remove the  skin, seeds and core of the peppers, leaving only the flesh which is then cut into 1/2 cm long strips. Place ready peppers aside.
2. Heat up a pan and drizzle in the extra virgin olive oil. Throw in the prepared peppers, tomatoes and olives. Stir for 2 minutes.
3. Add chopped garlic, anchovies (including the olive oil) and stir for another 3 - 4 minutes.
4. In goes the chopped parsley.
5. Lastly, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

I just love the soft and warm textures of the roasted bell peppers in this salad, makes me feel I am in Italy just tucking it in.

This is not all. I am serving my bell pepper salad with grilled polenta slices. Polenta is a product of cornmeal, originated from South America if I am not mistaken. It makes a good replacement for potatoes or rice. This is a very simple recipe, easy to make and good to eat.

Grilled Polenta

Ingredients (serves 4) 

1 litre of filtered water

1/2 tsp fine chili flakes (for color)

200 gm polenta

50 gm butter

50 gm cheddar cheese (grated)

1 sprig of rosemary (stalk removed)

1 tsp chopped parsley

sea salt

black pepper

olive oil

Method

1. Bring water to boil, put in chili flakes and add polenta into the boiling water in a continuous stream, whisking at all times for approx. 2 minutes.
2. Add butter, cheese, rosemary  leaves and parsley, lower heat and whisk for another 2 minutes until you get a bubbly molten lava textured polenta. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Pour into a greased large round baking tin to cool before placing into the fridge for 5 hours to harden.
3. Take polenta out and cut polenta into preferred shapes and sizes. Leave to room temperature for 30 minutes. Heat a grill or griddle, drizzle with olive oil and place the cut polenta slices onto the grill for 2 minutes each side just to create the grilled effect. Serve polenta slices hot with bell pepper salad. Don’t forget your wine and Italian accent!

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My baby entered our lives during one of my favourite times of my yearly schedule. A time when I am most excited and have bursts of energy whipping up food and more food, for the festive seasons, Christmas, New Years, Chinese New Year, Valentine’s day blah, blah, blah. This time I struggled a bit with all my plans of what to cook but with limited energy and time to put them into action. Nevertheless, this year I had the priviledge to savour lovely food prepared by some of my cooking friends and of course the chef of all chefs, my wonderful mom!

This time instead of sharing with you festive food, I bring you my own little special occassion, my son’s fullmoon goodies. I must say, I did not have any part in the cooking this lovely and delicious authentic food but only eating. Hmm, it’s a great life!

The above fullmoon celebration food consists of (above clockwise) red eggs, curry chicken, tumeric glutinous steam rice with peppercorns, ang ku and the pickled ginger (refer to the photo below).

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This year 2007 is ear-marked as the most memorable Christmas dinner I have ever had. Truely not because this is the best roast I have ever made but this was my last wonderful meal I had before I gave birth. Funny as it seems but I was bargaining with God that I want to enjoy my christmas roast, then have my 30 days confinement period and right in time for Chinese New Year scrumptious food. God granted just that! and I love Him!

Since this child is literally a ‘GIFT from God’, I never expected God to be so humourous that he is our present from HIM right on Boxing Day! Praise God!

Usually I wouldn’t even think of making this shoulder pork roast, mainly because this piece of meat is heavily layered with fats on top. Then again, the fats on top is the secret ingredient to a perfect shoulder pork roast.

Ingredients

1 shoulder of pork approx. 1.5 kg (readily tied with skin intact for roasting)

1 can of pineapple rings is syrup (discard syrup)

2 red apples (seeded and sliced)

2 ripe red plums (seeded and sliced)

some dried yellow raisins or cranberries

a handful of cloves

5 Tbsp of molasses

3 Tbsp of Bramble jelly (black berry)

1 pac of brandy

olive oil

sea salt

freshly crushed black pepper

Method

1. Marinate the pork shoulder with salt and pepper. Put into a refrigerator bag and leave it in the fridge overnight. The pork must be properly thawed before roasting.
2. Reserve all marinade from the bag. Place pork on a oven proof dish and pop it into the healsio at Super roast 200 degree celsius for 1 hour with skin side facing up. Test spearing it with a sharp paring knife to test if it is throughly cooked. If pink juices runs out continue to cook and test again until when speared juices comes out clear. (Note: you have to keep basting the roast every now and then when using normal electric ovens)
3. Bring out the roast and cut off the strings and thinly slice off the skin revealing the fats. Make criss cross incisions on the top fatty part and push in a clove at every cross.
4. Mix together molasses, bramble jelly, a drizzle of olive oil and brandy and pour over the roast. Quickly put it back into the hot oven for 15 minutes to caramelize.
5. Take out only the roast and leave aside to cool while all the rest of the fruitty ingredients are poured into the oven proof dish including the left over marinade and roast for another 20 minutes till fruits becomes soft and soaks up some of the roast gravy.
6. Take out the dish and place the roast on the fruits and start carving. You may drizzle a little brandy over the ready roast before carving if desired.

Thank you everyone for all your welcoming wishes and have a great 2008!

PS Thanks ‘Babe’ for the sweet baby announcement on your blog. Take care!

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