Stir Fry Watercress With Belacan And FoodPanda Voucher Giveaways

After having been out of action in the kitchen for the past 3 months, I look forward to hijack my kitchen back from WB.  He is really lousy when it comes to cleaning up after each cooking.   Ok, he can cook alright but when it comes to cleaning up , I would rate him as 3/10.  I still have to supervise him till every bit of grease or dirty plates are cleaned up :p  Anyway , I have to thank him for taking care of me the last 3 months.  This is what I cooked for dinner after hijacking back my kitchen. Stir Fry Watercress With Belacan.   Love this dish , but the preparation takes a bit of time though and the whole house smell of belacan....LOL!   

After having rested for 3 months, I tired out easily after an hour in the kitchen :p . Guess age is catching up. I was chatting with a friend the other day and was complaining to her about my recent tiredness and she straight away told me to have food delivered to the house whenever I feel tired to cook or too lazy to eat out.  Isn't it a great idea to order food online from one of our favorite restaurants and get the food delivered to our home !  I am sure WB will be happy to hear this. 

Food delivery in Malaysia ,Foodpanda , has made it easy for everyone who lives in Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Penang, Melaka, Johor and Perak .  All you have to do is log on to their homepage, type in your location, choose a restaurant and pick your favorite dish and tada the food will be on its way to your doorstep.  So simple and easy. You can either pay cash on delivery or through paypal.  They have a list of favorite restaurants you can choose from.  You can download the app to your mobile phone and the fastest way to order food on the go. They have deals of the week and you will have Remember this, too tired to cook or too lazy to eat out , try FoodPanda .  With FoodPanda, life will be much easier for us :)  And the family gets to be pampered too with the delicious food from the best restaurants in town .  Kids will love it too !  

I have 15 RM10 vouchers from FoodPanda to be given away to readers staying in the mentioned cities in Malaysia only .All you have to do is leave me a comment that you like FoodPanda , your name and email address. The vouchers are valid from 3rd January 2014 till 3rd January 2015.   

Stir Fry Watercress With Belacan ( Shrimp Paste )


500 g watercress - take the young shoots and leaves only , soak in salt water , wash clean, drain dry

1/2 " cube shrimp paste
3 pips of garlic - chopped
4 bird's eye chillies - sliced
1.5  tbsp of vegetable oil
4 tbsp of water

Method:

Heat up wok , add in the oil and when oil is smoking hot, add in shrimp paste, garlic, and chillies. Stir fry till fragrant, add in the watercress and stir fry till it wilted, add in water and continue to cook till the watercress is cooked and soft .  Dish up and served with piping hot rice.

Enjoy !

*             *              *

Greetings From Charco To Start 2014

This is my first post for 2014.  A very Happy New Year to all.  May 2014 brings you Joy, Peace and Health :)  Charco my four legged son wishes Mommy's readers a very  Happy New Year... woof woof ! 

He is four years old and the pride of my life . He is a cross between an Alsatian German Shepherd and a Rottweiler.  Sometimes he looks like a Rott when his ears are down and sometimes he stands tall like an Alsatian but at times he looks like a donkey LOL!  No matter how he looks, he brings JOY to WB and myself.  He understands English very well and has learned many tricks during his four years with us.  We love his cute cute expressions and the way he cocked up his face each time Daddy and myself are in conversation as if he understood every word we spoke :p   He fills up our loneliness and a great companion to us.  I cannot imagine life without Charco....

My friend Jessica is thrilled and amazed by his intelligence . His intelligence is on par with a three year old child.  He knows WB as Daddy and me as Mommy :) He is darn cute and makes us laugh all day long with his darn cute expressions.  Jessica stays in Brisbane and is looking for a pet dog like him :)  So I recommended her to check out this site  and if you are looking for a pet dog check out this puppy website. Try this site if you are looking for an excellent site, easy to navigate, quick to load and no waiting for pictures to come up. They have many puppies that you will want to take home with you.  When I retire in a year time , I will want to get another puppy so that Charco will not be lonely and will not be overly pampered.  He can then share our love with the new puppy. 

Toast to a Happy 2014......more blogging and more sharings :)

*              *           *

Ho Ho Ho...Merry Christmas To All

Christmas is a time to reflect
On all that God has done
It's not a matter of what we get,
But the birth of the Holy one
It's not about gifts
With ribbons and bows,
Or Christmas trees,
Tinsel and mistletoe
The Christmas gift given to us,
Is Jesus Christ's

Gift of love.

- M.S.Lowndes

MERRY CHRISTMAS 

and

A HAPPY NEW YEAR !

Stir Fry Mini King Oyster Mushrooms With Preserved Radish

I have been buying these mini King Oyster Mushrooms from Jusco but of late I don't see them in Jusco anymore. The have the bigger specie on sale but I like the mini ones :)  I shall wait for the new stock to arrive from Korea.   I have used them in many dishes. If you have been visiting my blog, you would have read my previous posts on Linguine With Homecooked Ratatouille and Mini King Oyster Mushroom Fritters and Mini King Oyster Mushroom Omelette , all uses these delectable mushrooms. There are so many ways to cook these mushrooms and for today's post, I would like to share on a simple yet flavorful dish - Stir Fry Mini King Oyster Mushrooms With Preserved Radish.  It is easy to whip up and it takes less than 20 minutes to have it ready on the table :) The preserved radish gave this dish the oomph.  The three main ingredients for this dish is the mushrooms, preserved radish and garlic. 

Ingredients:

2 cups of mini King Oyster Mushrooms - cut into thick slices

2 tbsp of preserved radish

1 tbsp of garlic - chopped

1 tbsp of vegetable oil

1 tsp of oyster sauce

3 tbsp of water mix with 1/2 tsp of corn starch

Method:

Heat up oil in a wok in medium high heat , when the oil is smoking hot, add in the garlic and preserved radish, stir fry till fragrant, add in the mushrooms and continue to stir fry till well combined and cooked Add in cornstarch water and oyster sauce. Continue to stir fry till the gravy thickens.  Dish up and serve hot.

Enjoy  !

*             *             *

Linguine With Homecooked Ratatouille

Ratatouille is my favourite dish .  I simplified the method so that WB doesn't need to stand in front of the stove for an hour :p  I shortened the cooking time so he doesn't mind cooking this dish for me. During my recuperating period,  I ate pasta most of the time .  I try to make things easier for WB :) Some man are clumsy in the kitchen...ehh forget I said this :p

Besides eggplants, carrot, zuccchini and yellow onions , I added korean mini king oyster mushrooms to the basic ratatouille recipe ...knowing me!  A mushroom fan :)  A tin of tomato paste, olive oil and mixed herbs , black pepper and sea salt is all you need to cook this ratatouille dish.  And of course a bit of patience *wink    You can keep this for two weeks in the fridge .  Linguine with homecooked ratatouille makes life easy and keep us healthy :) 

Linguine With Homecooked Ratatouille - WB's Kitchen

Recipe for ratatouille

1/4 cup olive oil,
1 cup diced yellow onion
2 cups medium diced eggplant, skin on
1 1/2 cups diced carrot
1 1/2 cups diced zucchini
1 cup seeded tomato
1 1/2 cups korean mini King oyster mushrooms
1 1/2 tbsp of mixed herbs - you can use fresh herbs of thymes, basil, parsley leaves
2 tbsp of minced garlic
1 small can of tomato paste mixed with 1/2 can of water
sea salt and ground black pepper

Method:

Heat up a saute pan over medium heat and add the olive oil.  Once hot, add the onions and garlic to the pan.  Cook the onions, stirring occasionally until they are wilted and lightly caramelized. Add all the diced veggies and cooked till soften.  Add the tomato paste water mixture , mixed herbs, black pepper and simmer till the veggies are soft and cooked and the gravy has thicken up.  Add seasalt to taste.  Stir well to blend and serve on your cooked pasta.

*            *            *

Christmas Countdown - Christmas Menu And Wine

Christmas is just ten days away and the countdown has started :) I have planned our Christmas dinner menu far in advance so that I can trial run on a new recipe , Roasted Lemongrass Chicken ( Gai Ob Ta Khai ) which I wanted very much to have it as one of the meat dishes.   I have invited some close friends and relatives to join us for dinner on Christmas day and planning the perfect Christmas dinner is top on my list besides getting Christmas presents for each of them. 

I am glad that I can test out the recipe before hand.  It turned out perfect and WB agrees that we can have chicken wings instead of whole turkey.  This is more flavorful with the strong aroma of lemongrass compared to stuff turkey.  Anyway , for a change we will leave out the turkey this year.  Besides chicken wings, I have pork loin roulade with cranberries and pistachio and crusted with fresh italian parsley.  The salad , I will assigned Piggy Jo to take over the salad and dessert * I think she is making red velvet cupcakes for dessert and tiramisu...ahhhh..just thinking of the Christmas menu and knowing that everyone in the family is helping out has made this year Christmas dinner stress free for me.  And WB and Josh has been assigned to find cheap wine online from Jims Cellars and make sure that the wine they order matches my Christmas dishes.   With the wine being taken care of , I just have one last thing to do and that is to find all the serving dishes, plates, cutlery, glasses and table linen and to make sure that the table is set the day before.

Roasted Lemongrass Chicken ( Gai Ob Ta Khai )  - adapted from Honeybee Sweets


Ingredients for Roasted Lemongrass Chicken Wings (Serves 3-4)

8 chicken wings, trimmed of fat, wash and pat dry
3 lemongrass stalks
2 Tbsp olive oil

Marinate 
2 lemongrass stalks, ends trimmed and bruised
1 tbsp dark soy
1 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp sugar
125 ml water 

Method:

Prepare the marinate 3-4 hours ahead. Chop the lemongrass finely. Heat the saucepan on medium fire and add in the lemongrass in. Then add in all the rest of the marinate ingredients and bring to a boil. Then remove from fire, cover and let cool completely.
Once the marinate is cooled, pour into a big mixing bowl. Then add in the chicken wings, coat the chicken wings well with the marinate sauce. Leave the chicken to absorb the marinate in the fridge for 3-4hrs.
Preheat the oven to 200C
Take chicken wings out from the fridge. Arrange chicken pieces on an aluminum foil lined baking tray. 
Using the bruised lemongrass stalk, dip in cooking oil and use it as a brush and brush the chicken wings well. This step will help crisp up the skin / surface and prevent burning.
Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes or till the juice runs clear.
Remove from oven and place on serving plate and serve immediately. Garnish with lemongrass if desired. 

Enjoy !

*               *                *