Images Flatbreads

Flatbreads

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's flatbread recipe is amazing. I discovered it while exploring several cooking websites. Click here to view the recipe on Mean Mother Cooker's blog.

I not a big fan of breadmaking. It's because I'm too impatient to see the results. Waiting for dough to rise is akin to waiting for a snail to cross the finish line. But I love standing next to the oven just to watch food evolve. I enjoy watching cupcakes puff up and chicken sizzling to a nice brown. This, I can handle.

No yeast flatbreads is the answer to my dilemma. And Hugh's flatbread is fabulously quick and easy to do. Almost failproof! Just four basic ingredients and half an hour of our time. I tried the recipe out the other day. It was done in a flash. Nothing like soft, warm bread to dip in curry or thick stew whenever I fancy. It's as good as the naan bread I used to buy from local Indian-Muslim restaurants.

I have this recipe stuck on my refrigerator now but I hope to memorise it one day.

My flatbread adventure, in photos:

Flour, Olive Oil, Salt and Warm Water ~ Knead, knead, knead, wait!

Roll and divide into 8

Roll flat, heat pan and voila! Done in minutes.

Flatbread...I am torn

You are so good ~ Flatbreads

Images Lemon and Rosemary Roast Chicken

Lemon and Rosemary Roast Chicken

I ❤ roast chicken. You don't have to do too much to make it a delicious meal. It is soOooo convenient. For me, it's matter of spreading a few basic ingredients over the chicken and voila! Into the oven it goes. A couple of hours later, dinner is ready.

But I have a totally different take for festive occasions. Special occasions are seasons for complicated recipes. This feeling is not out of any need to impress friends. It's because of the excitement I feel from the positive energy that surrounds the special occasion. It just screams, "Churn out something magical for 'eat' gathering!".

Anyway, this is how I usually make roast chicken on normal days. It is lightly seasoned with salt, rubbed with butter, dried herbs and some sort of fruit like  oranges, mangoes, apples or lemons.

I chose to go with lemon this time. One can never go wrong with lemon. The aroma that wafts through the air in the midst of roasting is heavenly. Makes me drool thinking about it.

If you're wondering whether it tastes sour. It doesn't. It has this savoury lemon flavour without any of that 'sour' taste. Yum stuff. Check out the recipe below.

Ingredients:
- 1 small medium chicken
- 3 medium potatoes (quartered or smaller)
- 2 medium onions (cut into wedges)
- 100g butter more or less (softened)
- ½ tsp dried rosemary
- ½ lemon 
- Salt, to taste

How-to:
1) Rub salt, rosemary and half of the butter all over the chicken. Stuff a wedge of onion into the chicken.

2) Line roasting tray with foil and brush on a bit of butter.

3) Place chicken onto the tray. Arrange potatoes and onions around the chicken.

4) Spread remaining butter over the potatoes and onion.

5) Squeeze lemon juice over it. Then, stuff the lemon into the chicken.

6) Roast at 185C for 1 hour 10 minutes or longer (depending on the size of your chicken). 
Note: I basted the chicken twice in between roasting time using the juices that had accumulated on the tray. This is to keep the chicken moist and to add a little more flavour to the skin. 

Butter it. Squeeze lemon juice all over.

 

Roast chicken underway

 

Fresh out of the oven ~ Lemon and rosemary roast chicken with a nice brown

I had mine with lettuce and dragon fruit.

Roast chicken with Dragon Fruit balls (used a melon baller) and lettuce. Yum!

Images Braised Mushrooms With Snow Peas and Black Fungus

Truth be told - I splash oyster sauce into most of my braised soy sauce dishes because I 'believe' it compliments the overall taste.

It's also a quick and easy way to add robust flavour into a simple dish of vegetables. A dash here and there into a hot wok of greens and it's ready to be served in minutes!

Below is a recipe for a simple dish I made the other day using mostly gooey sweetish oyster sauce.

Braised Mushrooms With Snow Peas and Black Fungus

Ingredients:

- 10 pcs dried Chinese mushrooms
(Soak in water for 1-2 hours until rehydrated, then remove stem. Rinse and change water once in between.)

- 10-15 pcs dried black fungus
(Small, soft variety - soak in water for 30mins until soft and spongy. Cut away hard parts. Rinse and soak in fresh water until ready to cook.)

- 20 pcs snow peas

- 1 clove garlic (chopped)

- 3 tbsp Oyster sauce

- Pinch of chicken stock granules

- 1 tsp cornflour (dilute in 1 tbsp water)

- 1 tbsp cooking oil

- A handful of fresh coriander for garnishing (roughly chopped)

How-to:

1) Heat oil in pan. Saute garlic until lightly browned.

2) Toss in the wet mushrooms and black fungus. While stirring, season with oyster sauce and chicken stock granules. Coat well with sauce and cook covered for 1-2 minutes. 

3) Add the snow peas in, stir until cooked.

3) Add cornflour into the mix. Give it a quick stir and serve garnished with fresh coriander.

Note: (You can add a bit of water if you want more sauce.

I do not drain away excess water from the mushroom and black fungus before cooking. I usually toss them in wet, dripping with water. This water makes the sauce.)

Braised Mushrooms With Snow Peas and Black Fungus topped with Fresh Coriander

Images Fish Balls in Ginger Sauce

Yummy Fish Balls in Ginger Gravy

Fish balls are easily found in Malaysia and perhaps one of the commonest food you'll see in our supermarkets.

I usually dump them into soups but decided to explore a different angle. This is a simple dish that goes well with Hainanese Chicken Rice. It is a delicious strong flavour of oyster sauce and ginger, topped with the pungent aroma of spring onions.

It took me less than half an hour to prepare and cook this.

Ingredients:
- 15 fish balls
- 1 clove garlic (chopped)
- 2 thumbs ginger (cut into smaller pieces, blend in a bit of water or some chicken stock until fine)
- 1 stalk spring onion (sliced)
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- Dash of sesame oil
- 1 tbsp cooking oil

How-to:
1) Heat pan with cooking oil. Stir-fry garlic until fragrant.

2) Add blended ginger, oyster sauce and a dash of sesame oil. Stir well, then add fish balls. Stir until everything is cooked and well coated with sauce.

3) Serve garnished with spring onions.

Images Shepherd's Pie - Cream Corn Style

Shepherd's Pie, also known as Cottage Pie, is probably one of the easiest pies to make. It's basically meat pie with a mashed potato crust on top. No flour based pastry required. Like! I know this isn't Facebook but I had to say it.

I was left with half a can of cream corn when I used half to make soup earlier. And I figured I should clear it off before it stays too long in the fridge. I have this habit of keeping too many things in there - waste not, being the motivation.

But I have been keeping track of my fridge hoarding activities! I contain it by making a conscious effort to include leftover cooking ingredients into the pot even though the recipe does not call for it. I've now come to realise that this is good practice and I don't need a bigger fridge after all.

Ingredients:
- 3 large potatoes (more or less, enough to cover the bowl/s, skinned)
- 1 tbsp salted butter
- 3 tbsp milk

- ½ can sweet corn cream style (425g can)
- 1 tbsp whole kernel corn (can)
- 200g minced beef
- 2 cloves garlic (chopped)
- 1 tbsp cooking cream
- 1 tbsp cooking oil
- Pinch of salt and pepper

How-to:
Corn Filling
1) Heat cooking oil in pan. Add chopped garlic. Give it a quick stir-fry.
2) Once you can smell the garlicky aroma, pour in sweet cream corn, cooking cream, whole kernel corn and minced beef.
3) Stir until meat is cooked. Don't let it dry out, add water if necessary.
4) Season with salt and pepper and you're done.

Mashed Potato Top
1) Boil potatoes until tender. Then, mash until fine.
2) Stir in butter and milk.

To assemble, pour the filling into a baking dish (not too high - leave some space for the topping). Lay the mash potato on top or pipe it on (I used an icing bag). Bake until lightly browned which took me about 30 minutes at 180c.

Minced meat and corn in cream

Potato piped on - Into the oven it goes!

 

Mmmm..mmm..yum!

Nom nom nom

Images Mango Chicken

This is probably the yummiest dish I've ever made and I say this only because it is hard for me to resist the charm of the mango. Don't you just love 'em? I can understand people avoiding the Durian or Tarap but I'm pretty sure the mango is welcome in most homes!

When cooking with mangoes, I opt for simplicity. The mango provides a natural flavour that is so delicious that I try not to mess it up with too much seasoning. A pinch of salt and pepper is as far as I go.

Here's how I did this.

Ingredients:
- 2 chicken leg quarters
- 1 large sweet mango (diced, seeded)
- 3 cloves garlic (chopped)
- ½ tsp meat curry powder
- 1 bunch asparagus (about 20-30 spears)
- 1 tbsp cooking oil
- Salt and pepper

How-to:
1) Marinate chicken with curry powder, salt and pepper. Bake at 180c for 45 minutes in the oven. Do not throw the chicken juice away.

2) Stir-fry asparagus in cooking oil with a bit of garlic and a pinch of salt. Leave aside.

3) To make the mango sauce - Pour chicken juice into pan. Stir-fry that with the remainder of the garlic. Add the mango. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook until the mango is slightly tender and starts to look like gravy.

4) Finally, assemble cooked asparagus on a plate. Lay the chicken on top and pour the gravy over. Voila!

Baked curried chicken

Assemble on plate - first asparagus, then the chicken, finally the sauce

Diced mango

Chicken juice, garlic and mango - the gravy

Images Fish Maw Soup

Fish maw, otherwise known as dried swim bladders, is perfect in stews, soups or braised. It is good with wet dishes largely because it easily absorbs flavour from other ingredients it is cooked with. On its own, it is tasteless.

It is said that fish maw is rich in collagen but whether this is scientifically proven is beyond me. The ones I use for cooking are, after all, dried products.

Fish Maw Soup - Garnished with Spring Onion

Fish Maw Soup happens to be a household favourite, a potful easily gulped away in one dinner sitting! I usually cook this with a lot of pepper. It gives this simple dish a lot of punch.

Here's the recipe, if you're keen to try.

Ingredients:
- 2 cloves garlic (chopped)
- 70g / a small bowl of spongy fish maw
(Pre-soaked in water an hour or two until spongy. Rinse away as much oil as you can and then, slice into pieces)
- 200g chicken bone parts (I opted for chicken feet and neck)
- A handful of sliced cabbage
- 1.5L water
- Salt and pepper to taste (Optional: a pinch of chicken stock granules)

How-to:
1) Boil all the ingredients together, until the cabbages are really limp and soft.

2) Season to taste with salt, but be generous with the pepper (optional- a pinch of chicken stock granules). It is fine if you don't want it too peppery, but as we Malaysians say it, "No kick-lah" (No oomph!).

The four ingredients

All in the pot

Peppery Fish Maw Soup - Yummy!

Images Foil-Baked Herbal Chicken

Oh noooOoo.. there goes my decade-old crockpot! It tore at the rim just as I placed the heavy clay pot onto the heating base *sad*.

I was going to slow cook a herbal chicken dish for dinner but ended up using the oven, going the foil-wrap way. The meal turned out oh-so-yummy but then again, my lack of fussiness is surely a bane to food critiquing and any real assessment taste-wise. I have the genes of a regular mom (although I'm not one myself) when it comes to food and wastage.

This is my version of Foil-Baked Herbal Chicken. It's simple to prepare - just involves throwing everything together and leaving it to cook. The end result is tender chicken in a rich flavoured sweetish soup gravy.

Foil-Baked Herbal Chicken

Ingredients:
- 4 chicken thigh pieces
- 2 large red dates (seeded and halved)
- 2 medium onions (quartered)
- A handful of solomon seal rhizome (yu zhu, pre-soaked an hour)
- A handful of fresh coriander (roughly cut)
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce stirred in 1-1½ cup water (largely depends on baking tray size)
- Pinch of salt and pepper

How-to:
1. Rub a little salt and pepper on the chicken pieces.

2. Line the inside of the baking dish with foil. Spread chicken pieces, dates, onions, yu zhu on top. Pour diluted oyster sauce in at the sides (Add more water/sauce if you want more gravy).

3. Cover the top of the tray with foil, make it air-tight (to steam the chicken). Bake at 180C in a pre-heated oven for just about an hour. Leave to rest for another 15 minutes before opening the cover (Be careful - hot steam will gush out.)

4. Garnish with coriander and serve.

Images Soy Sauce Chili Dip (Cili Kicap)

Sliced chili in soy sauce? It can be found in almost every restaurant here because it makes a great accompaniment for the typical Malaysian rice or noodle dish. I think of it as our national dipping sauce.

In our home, it is also a must-have on the dinner table. Today, I was inspired to add a little twist to the simple recipe for extra oomph. It involves crushing all the ingredients together. The end result is a spicy piquant sweet, salty dip.

Here's my take, with the recipe included below.

Spicy Chili-Soy Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:
- 1 red chili (sliced)
- 4 green bird's eye chili (sliced)
- 1 very small red onion (chopped)
- A pinch of fresh ginger

- 1/2 calamansi (seeded)
- 1/4 cup sweet saltish soy sauce (I use a local brand - "Cap Dua Ikan")

How-to:
1. Using a mortar and pestle, roughly crush chili, onion and ginger together into small bits.
2. Once done, add soy sauce and squeeze calamansi juice into the mix. Stir well and serve.

Best eaten with rice dishes or as a batter-fried food dip (I'm thinking bananas, sweet potatoes, vegetables).

Crush, crush, crush!

Warning ~ known to increase appetite!

Images Stir Fried Water Apples with Squid and Cabbage

Water apples are known by many names. We call it wax jambu in my household.

I love cooking with fruits and had a little kitchen fun experimenting with water apples when a friend gave some to us.

Water apples aren't as sweet as most fruits but it is juicy so it makes more sense to stir fry it than to attempt baking it with something.

Anyway, here's what I did. Simple, but the outcome was tasty. My other half, the one person who has little love for this fruit has this to say ~ "I never knew water apples could taste this good!" I agree.

Stir Fried Water Apples with Squid and Cabbage

Estimates for two, best eaten with rice.

Ingredients:
- 2 water apples (sliced thin)
- 1/2 small cabbage (sliced thin)
- 1 medium-sized Squid (sliced into ring-shaped sections)
- 1 clove garlic (minced)
- 1 sprig spring onion (chopped)
- 1/2 tsp corn flour (diluted in 1 tbsp water)
- 1 tbsp cooking oil
- Salt and pepper to taste

How-to:
1. Heat oil in cooking pan. Add garlic and fry until lightly browned.

2. Add squid, water apples and cabbage. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Stir fry until water apples are slightly tender. Finish by stirring corn flour into the mix.

4. Garnish with spring onion before serving.