Livers!

Dad bought a whole tray of chicken livers and requested that we should have them for dinner.
Yucky...

I cringed while preparing them, yet, I was in a good mood and was determined to be a good daughter.

Meanwhile, I had no idea how to make them delicious and there aren't many Chinese dishes examples in the net.  Mostly are western dishes like these - HERE

After some comparisons, I concluded that Onions should be the must-have ingredient with livers.  With some common sense and my so called culinary experience, I believe there should be lot's of Gingers too.

Dad says I should cook them with the vegetables.  Again, my "culinary" gut feel tells me that I should not cook them together. And, I should cook the vege first.

Ta-daa....

Looks quite good right? Well, Dad didn't complain.

But...they are still livers to me.  Euw...

Carbonara Spaghetti

I really think my cooking has improved so much lately :P

How does this look?

Cooked up in 30 mins.

And I think it's quite yummy too.  Soon, I will not ever pay exorbitant prices for pastas..soon..I hope.

Quite easy to make actually...created and invented based on what I remember seeing on TV and bits of what I was told from various people.  And of cos trial and error, whenever I make one.

Somehow, this one tasted the best.

30 mins steps to a simple meal:

Boil some water and salt in pot

Put in spaghetti to cook

Cut chicken breast to cubes

Marinate with some salt, tiny bits of sesame oil & some parsley flakes

Chop some garlic and yellow onion, mix with chicken cubes

Dish out spaghetti, leave behind some salted water if you prefer a watery over dry version

Stir fry chicken cubes in some butter till fragrant (more butter more tasty - to ignore calories content)

Add some olive oil

Add cheese (I only used sliced sandwich cheese)

Add fresh milk

Cook for a while in slow fire and pour on to spaghetti and mix.

Add more parsley flakes before serving!

Crispy Fried Eggs

I finally got to try this dish.
Learnt about it from a blog post quite some time back.  It's from a Restoran Muar along Tengkat Tong Shin, a few doors away from the Ngau Kee Beef Noodles store.

Here's what it looks like..

Credit: http://kyspeaks.com

I had to steal an image from other blogs cos mine didn't turn out well.

Verdict - it's quite special indeed for such a simple dish.  It's just...Fried Eggs. It's as simple as ...Fried.Eggs.  But it's crispy and tasty. Why? Because a lot of oil was used to fry the eggs and there are some toppings of more oil sprinkled on it with some dark and light soy sauce, if I'm not mistaken.  It's crispy on the outside but yolks are still runny.  Definitely not something that one should have everyday, for health reasons!

Logically, the way to cook it should be lot's lot's of oil and eggs. And not to cook for too long.

Yes? No?

So I tried doing it ...

Ta daa......

:D

Verdict:

One yolk overcooked. 

Not crispy enough.

But definitely tastes better than the previous ones.

Homemade Porky Burger by Sis

We grew up in a fairly poor household where our parents make sure that they give us the best but careful not to spend unnecessary. I'd always wondered when I was a kid, how come we don't buy new furnitures, how come dad always try to hand-make most of the things in the house like the shelves in the kitchen, the table for mom to do her food chopping, etc.

Mom and sometimes Dad too will home-cook most of our food items..from wan tan mee to popiah to pau to our very own kaya and much much more.

While I used to wonder and wish we could go out and eat ..now I miss those deeply.  Mom's wan tan mee, nasi lemak, yam cake...

Dad's kaya and pau were great too.

They used to go on and on about how cheap things used to be when they were younger..and it's too expensive now..and we will roll our eyes...


Now that we are all grown up, we are saying exactly the same :D

Especially recent years..we are more reluctant to spend on certain food items..especially those that we know we can make our own and taste as good.

My sis tried making porky burger recently.

It was really easy.

All she did was some internet search to review several recipe and then choose and fine tune to her own liking.

Ta daaa..

Minced pork, add some bacon bits and garlic

Fry

The usual sides..tomatoes, lettuce, cheese...(she added some avocado too, which I think is a plus)

And it's done!

If I remember correctly..she said her cost is less than RM30..she made a total of 5 burgers.

How much is one porky burger in the outlets?

I'll have to think twice before I head ot another burger outlet :D

Olio Carbonara

Here's what happened today.

I was extremely hungry as it was way past lunch time at 2pm or later.  Needed. food. fast.
Good that I had taken out some pork from the freezer in the morning.
Marinated pork.

Took some curry leaves and chilli padi from the garden.
Cut some garlic.

Boil some spaghetti noodles.
When done, added olive oil, garlic powder, pepper, and some dried bottled Itallian herbs.
Oh..added some fresh milk too.

Don't ask..what recipe :D

I had Olio in mind..but then I have some fresh milk that I'm trying to finish..since there's curry leaves..so I think I was trying to make it fusion spicy carbonara?!  But then I added in last night's Chinese Herb Soup as stock too.

LOL!

Anyway...preparation..very simple.

Cook pork with leaves and garlic and olive oil...and add spaghetti. Done.

I must say..it tasted quite good.  Really!

Looks like a huge portion..but I finished it.

So full of CARBS....

MADEs can cook !

Had I mentioned how amazing the members of M.A.D.E are?  I'm not saying this just because they are my fellow MADEs and friends, in fact I actually do not know this bunch as well as  I'd like to.

Only 2 of the bunch were my ex class mates, even that we have not met for years until M.A.D.E was formed.

I did mention in previous posts how I was awed by the level of commitment and dedication despite everyone's busy and hectic lives at work and at home.

You'd probably have an idea  if you've been following this site.  If not..let's just say M.A.D.E consists of a bunch of friends who put aside personal differences and life commitments to come together hoping to Make Some Difference.

Sometimes I can't help but wonder if I'm half as good as this bunch of wonderful souls.

M.A.D.E raised over RM23,000 in the recent charity drive to support of the Paitan Kindergarten project in Sabah.  A representative was just in Paitan few weeks ago (trip was organised by The Catholic Parish of St Francis Xavier, Singapore) to present the cheque to Sr Dorothy  (who was responsible for starting the first kindergarten seven years ago, to date, she has started eight kindergartens!).



We met up recently for a Thanksgiving and pre Christmas potluck dinner.  It was also an opportunity for us to catch up on EL's experience in Paitan.  As expected, it was an unforgettable lifetime experience.  I'll post some pics on her behalf in another post, if I can get hold of some.  No promises.  Alternatively, wait till March, if I gather enough courage to tag along with her on her next trip to Paitan :)

Meanwhile...yes..I was saying this bunch of MAD(E) people are so talented.  Look what they prepared for the potluck :

Awesome Prawn Salad

Amazingly delicious Chilli Beef

Garlic Roasted Chicken YUMMY

I think this is Caesar Salad

I never liked Lasagna..but..this is unbelievably NICE!

This didn't have a name...but it was really really nice..think: bacon, cheese, potato, sausages..and lot's more

Butter cake & Chips with Salsa dip..O M G

What happend to my dish?

Well...I did a second attempt on the Oven baked Baby Ribs.

It looked quite good actually....when it came out of the oven. 

Agreed?

So..I'm never really that good or even cared about food presentation.  What I did was..just cutting them up, put in the some plastic container..and off I went :D

You can imagine..how Out of Place my ribs were...when put next to all the above.

SOBSSSSS :'(

Here's EL helping me to rearrange the ribs onto a nice clean plate :D

We stole some leaves and baby tomatoes from Sharm's salad...and voila ...!

Char Siew anyone?

 LOL LOL ...

Oven Cooked Baby Ribs : Attempt 1

Tried cooking baby ribs using Chris' fairly new and under-used oven.

Mistake 1:
Was over ambitious to try 2 recipes with 5 rack of ribs on a first attempt.

Recipe 1: Char siew sauce, five spice powder, garlic powder

Mistake 2:
A noob here put the ribs back into freezer after marinating, so marinating process was not well done

Recipe 2: Honey & Mustard from MasterFoods

Mistake 3:
Used aluminium wrap instead of just laying over baking sheet, ribs were not 'roasted' well

Mistake 4: 

Cooked all 5 rack of ribs at one go in 2 levels in side the oven, ribs at the lower level didn't get enough heat 

Nevertheless, we had a good time.  Will try again next time.

Will share the other food stuff in next post :)

Mui Choy (Preserved Vege) Pork

This is my 3rd or 4th attempt.  

The more authentic and professional recipe goes something like this - click HERE

Aigh..I'm only preparing it for a home meal, just like what mom used to do it.

As usual, based on memory and my foodie instinct..

This time, I "invested" in some fatty pork belly, the last time was too dried with just lean pork.

So much more yummy!  The wonders of lard :D

My simple and humble recipe:

Fry pork (lightly marinated with salt and sugar) with garlic for a few minutes

Add mui choy (soaked and cleaned)

Other seasoning: light soy sauce, thick soy sauce, oyster sauce

Add water, simmer and stew. Duration - depends on how wet you want it to be, lol.

Pumpkin Rice

Latest cooking adventure!

Ingredients:

Pumpkin

Chinese Mushrooms and Pork - stir fried

Dried shrimps - minced and fried till fragrant

Verdict:

Could've been better.

May taste better if rice is cooked stocks instead of just water.

Chinese mushroom and pork should have been added only after rice is cooked, not before.

Indomie Burger

I discovered this dish called Indomie Burger while I was browsing Foursquare to checkout the Bestari  outlet at Desa Sri Hartamas.  There were so many recommendations on Indomie Burger.

It's basically finely mashed pieces of Ramly Burger mixed with Indomie Goreng, and NOT Indomie in a Ramly Burger bun (as per what Mich imagined when I recommended to her).

It costs about RM5 ++ which is rather expensive given it's somewhat nil nutritional value.  But I liked it :P  Almost never missed it whenever I'm at Bestari.

So..one fine day while browsing at Tesco, I decided to get a pack of frozen Ramly Burger ...hehe.

And here's my version :D

Lunch was...

Chris was asking what did I cook for lunch yesterday..but I couldn't really make out what I made for myself.  

You see, I had some Chinese Spinach (Po Choy) and was planning to fry some leftover rice with pork to go with it but found the rice cooker empty :D  And it was already 1pm.. I was really hungry.

So...I had to make do with whatever I have..which was very limited.

Either instant noodles, bihun or spaghetti 

o.O

So..I cooked the pork with some mushrooms in butter, added the spaghetti and vege, added some left over Chinese soup from last night as stock..salt and pepper to taste, olive oil of course..

There..my lunch....

So..what is this?

Taste wise..not great yet can eat la.  LOL.

RM50

I spent about RM50 grocery shopping this morning on the following:

One whole chicken RM6+
A can of tuna RM4+
Sanitary products RM10+
Tomatoes, potatoes RM3+
A medium sized Chlorox RM7
Dried Noodle RM3+
Spaghetti RM?
SCS butter RM9+


I used the following for today's lunch:
1/5 of the pack of spaghetti
One tomato
About 1/2 can of the tuna
About a teaspoon of butter
A dash of milk
A piece of cheese

I made chicken soup for dinner with the following:
About half the chicken
2 tomatoes
1 potato
1 onion


Comparatively, I'd spend the following on a typical day out let's say on a Friday evening for movie and dinner :
Coffee RM8
Snacks/desserts  RM15
Dinner RM20-30
Movie RM15
Parking RM6

Hmmm...and I used to wonder why my parents never took us out when we were poor.  And how the heck they managed to save enough money to buy a house eventually.

"Carbonara" Linguine with Roast Pork

Looks good eh?

Tasted good too :P

100% self invented without referring to any recipe book.

Stir fry left-over roast pork with garlic

Cook linguine separately

Add in some salt, olive oil, cheese, pepper onto linguine

Mix with roast pork in the pot under low heat, add in some milk bit by bit until it looks like carbonara :D

Some more pasta

And I thought I've ran out of ideas. Same same but different.

























Half a can of tuna in olive oil
Chilli padi from the garden
Curry leaves from garden
Butter
A lil bit of milk
Salt and pepper to taste


I wanted it to taste like those Creamy Butter Crab / Prawn dishes ..

Some Pasta

What shall I call this?

Recipe:

Half boiled egg

Caned tuna (with oil)

Dried chilli

Fresh tomato puree

White mushroom

Garlic

A little bit of extra virgin olive oil

Appearance ok?  I think it will look better without the egg but add on some greens.

What do think?

What shall I call it?

=P

I made Char Siew !

Few days back, when I saw a piece of fatty pork in the kitchen, I had reminisce of those char siew that my mom used to make.  It's not those that we had in chicken rice shops..but home made ones.  

It was pan fried until very dark brown...the oil and black sauce extracted from the frying goes very well with white rice.  

So..I tempted to make that.  

I had no idea what was the recipe...I just went about doing it based on what I think my mom did.

I marinated with dark soya sauce and sugar.  Should have been longer..but I started late.  Never mind.

At first it looked and tasted totally out.  Color was light brown instead of very dark black brown.  There was brown gravy instead on oil..  Meat tasted bland..no fragrant at all. 

Hmmm....based on memory it should be fragrant..clsoe to charred (that's why it's called char siew).  It should be sweet and..gravy should be just oil and some black sauce.

Decided to give it another go..I added more sugar and dark soya sauce, turned up the the heat !

Here's the outcome :D

Very very close I would say.  

I'd give myself a pass ^^

It should taste better if the meat has more fat and marinated longer..

I think I have a natural cooking talent :D