Quick Fix Chicken Rendang

A follow up recipe for this post-- Hungry Hobbit

I don't have the exact measurement for the ingredients since it was a quick fix. Thus I will only list down what I used.

2 pieces of chicken breasts
shredded ginger
shallots
ready made rendang powder (brought it from M'sia)
lightly crushed cashew nuts
olive oil
fresh milk (to replace coconut milk)
salt
light soy sauce
water
celery for garnish


1. Heat frying pot and add olive oil.
2. Throw in crushed cashew nuts and fry until the cashews turn golden brown. Take them out and set aside.
3. Still using the same oil, stir in shredded ginger and sliced shallots.
3. Add the chicken breasts. Fry both sides of the meat for a minute and cover the pot for 2 minutes.
4. Add adequate water (enough to cover the chicken meat) and let the chicken sit for another 4 minutes with the pot covered. Check in between.
5. Add in the ready made rendang powder to taste. Add half cup of milk. Stir consistently and boil for another 5 minutes.
6. Add salt and light soy sauce to taste.
7. Add the fried cashews. Constantly stir.
8. Turn the fire off and let the pot sit for a minute before garnishing with celery to serve.

Fried Rice with Minced Beef and Lettuce

Hobbit husband prepared this HK style fried rice adapted from one of our Periplus Mini Cookbooks. He is really inspired to become a good cook (and a good husband of course) and plan to take over the kitchen the next time we have guests over! In fact, he has been taking over most of the time, especially in doing the dishes. As I am typing this out, he is busy baking cookies!

If you enjoy Chinese fried rice, you got to try this recipe which we modified a bit to suit our tastebuds. I really like the combination of lettuce + minced beef in this recipe. When mixed together with other ingredients used in this recipe, the lettuce + minced beef brought a lot of Chinese flavor to the fried rice. So here's the ingredients...

Marinade:
2 tsp light soy
1 tsp sugar
1tsp cornflour
pinch pepper
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup minced beef
5 tsp oil
1 egg, beaten
3 cups cooked rice
1/4 tsp pepper
1 cup lettuce, shredded
1 tsp diced spring onion
1 tsp sesame oil

1. Combine all marinade ingredients except for the olive oil. Then add the beef and set aside for 10 mins.
2. Heat wok with 3 tbsp of oil and fry the minced beef until it just loses its pinkness, breaking it up with a fork as it cooks.
3. In a clean wok, heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil and scramble the egg for 20 sec. Stir in the cooked rice and saute well.
4. Add the light soy and pepper, minced beef and shredded lettuce to fry evenly. Sprinkle in the diced spring onions and the sesame oil. Transfer to a serving dish.

This measurement serves 2. :)

Five Spices Chicken and Egg Herbs

I tried a new recipe today and tadaa...
Poured too much spices. Must lesson the spices next time.

Beef Steak with Mashed Potatoes and Mixed Vegetables

The next day we grilled the steak with mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables as the side dishes. We wanted a quick fix so we used these readymades...

Just had to mix it with water and put it into the microwave.

Stir-fried with some sprinkles of salt.

Quite heavy for dinner! :)

Beef Steak with Baked Potato and Salsa

I realized that I have been unproductive since coming back from Sabah these few days. What is worst is that I don't have the appetite to eat anything but whole wheat bread + nutella and more nutella. Only chocolates and chocolaty stuff could satisfy my taste buds so far. This evening I decided to put something together and try to be myself again. So I asked Hobbit to do the shopping so I could prepare everything. Hence we had beef steak with baked potato and salsa for Sabbath dinner! It was indeed a lovely and enjoyable meal. Hobbit testified to it and told me he especially liked the baked potatoes and the half done steak.

Since this was a impromptu self-created recipe, I am quite hesitant to share. Didn't put so much thought on the ingredients unlike other dishes. Thus I don't know whether it is any better.

Two problems. One, I overestimated the bake time of the potatoes. They actually took longer to bake. Two, we had no proper table knife for the steak! Tomorrow lunch time will be another round of steak since we have another big chunk marinating inside the fridge. Wonder what will the side dishes be...

Happy Sabbath everyone!

Seaweed Soft Boiled Rice

The Chinese had this tradition of cooking congee or soft boiled rice when someone in the household is not feeling well/sick. This tradition was passed down from my great grandmother who then influenced my grandmother to my mother and now I caught "the flu"! Hutttchewwww! It was and is believed that congee increases the sickling's appetite and gives him/her immense energy leading to recovery. Sounds like its one of a kind in healing wonders!

So I had runny nose and wanted something tasty and soft, one else could I think of if not seaweed congee! Hubby makes bowls of tasty, delicious one. Could be that he inherited congee cooking from his father - the well-known congee master in SASS! :)

Ingredients:

A cup of white rice
400ml water
Seaweed strands in a packet
Knorr mushroom cube
Carrots (cut in small cubes)
Sesame oil
Maggie seasoning (optional)
celery strips (optional)

Directions:

1. Boil rice in a pot filled with water for about 30 minutes. Cover the pot.
2. When rice is boiling, add cube-cut carrots and stir evenly. Cover half the pot. Check and stir regularly.
3. After 20 minutes, add knorr mushroom cube. One cube should be enough since the carrots will give sweet taste to the rice. Stir regularly and evenly.
4. Reduce heat. Add seaweed strips according to your liking and stir.
5. Add 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, stir and congee is ready to be served.
6. Garnish with celery or add seasoning to bring out the taste.

Stir Fry Chicken Cutlets with Kim Chi

Cooking is such a therapeutic activity. Today I experimented on Chicken cutlets with Kim Chi and it turned out delicious-miscious! Hehe! Let's see what were among the ingredients:

2 stems of Kim Chi cabbages, 1/2 kg chicken cutlets, fine slices of gingers, 1/2 tbsp mushroom sauce, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1/4 tsp salt, pinches of sugar, 1/4 cup of water, 1/4 of oil, and celery for garnish.

Heat oil in pan and slide in fine slices of gingers. Stir fry until ginger is fragrant. Throw in chicken cutlets and stir fry. Cover for a minute. Add Kim Chi and water and mix well. Add mushroom sauce, salt, pepper and sugar and stir the mixture for about a minute and cover for 2 minutes. When the mixture is sizzling, turn off heat and serve. Garnish with celery. Perfect recipe for cold days! :)

Scrambled Potato Patties

Reached home from work and too lazy to cook complicated meal. There were some left overs potatoes and was able to make scrambled potato patties.

1 large potato, finely chopped into tiny cubes
1 onion, minced
1 egg
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/2 cup crisp flour, mixed with water
2-3 tbsp olive oil

Varieties at School Anniversary's Fair

My school celebrated its 5oth Anniversary today. I was expecting lots and lots of alumni to crowd the school or at least the covered court but it was otherwise. Nevertheless, the event was a successful one. I didn't take a lot of pictures since Hobbit Hub was using it most of the time plus the weather was hot! Here are some that I took from the event. Food of course! LOL!