Cornish Chicken Pie......

Today I made some Cornish chicken pie which is one of the favorite food in my home eaten with no complains but  with smiles on their faces. Its high time I share some recipes here as my health is getting better and my mood is just right for writing.

Really don't know why it is named Cornish pie as in Secret Recipe. Its might have originated from Cornwall with its  meaty and potatoes fillings wrap in huge pastry into half moon just like our curry puffs. 

Ingredients: Fillings- makes 4 -5 pies

2 chicken thighs -steamed and shredded

3 medium size potatoes-cubed

1 carrot- cubed

1 big onion- chopped

1 tin button mushroom- chopped

1/2 cup cream of mushroom soup

1 tbsp oil

2 hardboiled eggs- quartered

Seasoning:

salt and pepper to taste

a pinch of mixed dried herbs

Pastry:

300g flour

125g cold butter

ice cold water to mix

Method:

Heat a tablespoon oil in  pan or wok. Put in chopped onions to saute til soft and fragrant. Add in  mushroom, potatoes, carrots  and fried for a minute or two. Then add in cream of mushroom soup and some stock from the steamed chicken. Season with a bayleaf, mixed herbs and some pepper. Leave to boil for 5 mins and then add in the shredded chicken. Cook til moist but not too dry and watery. Leave aside to cool.

To make the pastry, sieve flour and rub in cubed cold butter with fingers til it resembles fine bread crumbs. Then add in ice cold water to form a firm dough. Wrap up dough with clean plastic sheets and leave in fridge to chill for about 30 mins before using. 

Roll out pastry into 3mm thickness then cut out with knife into oval shape. Put enough fillings in middle and fold up and  press the edges together. Crimp the edges neatly to close up fillings. Lightly brush it with a beaten egg and bake it in a preheatd oven of 200 degrees Celcius for 20-25 minutes til golden brown.

Golden  brown pie in oven........

Tang Yuen 2010.......

Yummilicious Tang Yuen with black sesame fillings..........

Tang Yuen ready to be serve in sugar syrup......

The Tang Yuen floats up when cooked............

I finally made my tang yuen or glutinous rice balls this year after my niece Lena bought a packet of the glutinous rice flour for me. Today, my son H help me knead the dough and fill the balls with peanut and black sesame fillings. It is such a tedious job filling the tiny balls with fillings and its good if there are more helpers but I have only one son who can cook. It is worth all the hard work if you can bite into the soft balls and taste the delicious fillings melting in your mouth. Like to share the recipe here.

Son H wrapping up the dough with black sesame seeds fillings.....

Peanuts fillings: Blend peanuts and rock sugar til fine

200gs peanuts- roasted n skinned

150g rock sugar

Black sesame fillings:

100g black sesame- washed, drained and toasted in pan then blend til fine

50g soft brown sugar

50g butter

Syrup: Bring all ingredients to boil til sugar dissolved

2 litres water

200g rock sugar

4 pandan leaves knotted

Dough:

400g glutinous rice flour

2 tbsp wheatstarch flour(Teen Mien Fen)

200 ml hotwater

200 ml cold water

Put glutinous rice flour in a bowl. Add hot water and stir with a wooden spoon to mix. Then slowly add cold water to knead into a smooth dough. Divide dough into 3 portions to add the desired color. Then pinch off a small portion of dough and roll between palms into rounded balls. Flatten into thin disk and wrap around 1 tsp of filling and roll into a rounded ball. Repeat with the rest of the dough.

To cook the rice balls, boil water in a pot or wok. Drop in glutinous rice balls and cook until rice balls float up. Dish up with a perforated ladle and drop into a bowl of ice cold water for 5 minutes.

Serve it with prepared syrup water. It can be serve hot or cold.

Homemade Carrot Noodles.....

Recently I bought a versatile juicer that can also process noodle. So after juicing my carrots, I add the juice into flour mixture to knead into a dough. I add some eggs to make a more springy noodle. Homemade noodles is fresh and you can add other juices like wheat grass or spinach for a healthier meal.

Divide dough into small pieces .......

Noodles are process by my juicer machine.......

Ingredients:

500 g medium protein flour

3 eggs

3 tbsp carrot juice

3 tbsp water

10g oil

1 tsp salt

Method:

I used my thermomix machine to knead into a smooth dough. Those without it can used a bread maker or manually knead with hand which takes about 10 minutes to become a smooth and elastic dough. Leave the dough to prove for an hour cover with a damp cloth. For my noodle maker I just divide the dough into 10 small oblong shaped and press into the juicer to cut out. Wonderful isn't it to have such a good invention saving all my time and hardwork instead of roll out into thin sheets with a rolling pin which my weak arthritis hand could not do. So there is no kneading, rolling or cutting for me to do by hands. Easy peasy for me and I can made any noodles I want in less than 10 minutes. Flat pan mein noodles, round noodles, thin wan tan noodles is all I can made with just a change of the desired nozzle.

Aromatic Pandan Chicken.....

Pandan chicken

Yesterday I cook this yummy chicken dish using lots of screwpine leaves or known as Pandan in Malay. The unique taste and aroma of these screwpine leaves used to wrap round the seasoned chicken pieces which is then deepfry in hot oil to bring out a flavorful dish which nobody could resist. Pandan leaves can be easily grown if you live in the tropics and have a small garden and it doesn't need lots of care. I brought some over from my garden in my hometown house during the weekend. Here is a recipe to share.

Blended shallots, garlic, ginger and lemon grass....

Chicken with blended ingredients and sauces......

Ingredients:

3 Chicken thighs-deboned and diced into 6x3-cm pieces
3 shallots-peeled
2 slices ginger
2 cloves garlic
1 stalk lemon grass
2 tsp light soya sauce
1 tsp fish sauce
2 tsp Worchestershire sauce
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp chilli powder
100 ml coconut cream or santan

15-20 pieces pandan leaves-washed

Wrapped chicken ready for deep-frying.......

Method:

1. Rinse chicken meat and pat dry with kitchen towel.
2. Blend shallots, garlic, ginger and lemon grass in a processor with a little water. 3.Then mix it with the rest of the ingredients(except the pandan leaves) into the chicken.
4. Mix well and leave to marinade for 3 to 4 hours in fridge.
5. Wrap up each piece of chicken neatly with a pandan leave and secure with a wooden toothpick.
6. Heat oil in wok or deepfryer and deep-fry for 6 to 8 minutes til chicken is cook through.
7. Drain and serve it with hot rice.

Guinness Stout Spare Ribs....

Yesterday I tried my hands on this dish which uses the famous Irish beer for cooking my spareribs. It turns out well and tasted just as good as those eaten outside and if not the best. Maybe next time I will give it some variations like adding jams or maltose instead of honey to add to the flavor of the bitter sweet stout. Here is how I cook it......

1. Wash 600gm of spare ribs and drained. Dap dry with kitchen towel.

2. Marinate the ribs with 1 tsp ginger juice, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp sugar, 1 tsp light soya sauce, 3 tbsp Guinness Stout, 1 tbsp plain flour and 1 tbsp cornflour. Keep aside in fridge to season for 2 to 3 hours covered.

3. Deep fry the marinated ribs in hot oil for about 2 minutes. Remove and drain.

4. Heat 1/2 tbsp oil in a clean wok. Pour in sauce mixture A which consist of 1 tbsp sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 1/2 tbsp honey, 1 tbsp freshly squeeze lemon juice, and 9 tbsp Guinness Stout. Bring it to boil.

5. Return ribs to wok and mix well. Pour in 1/2 cup water and bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer for about 40 minutes til the ribs are tender and make sure the gravy is not too dry. Lastly thicken the sauce with cornflour mixture by mixing 2 tsp of cornflour with 1 tbsp water. Dish up and it is ready to be eaten with hot rice.

Spicy Nestum Butter Prawns....

Actually I already had a recipe of this savory dish in my blog here. My boys love to eat anything cook with butter and what more if it is fried and fragrant. As it is not a very healthy dish for those with high cholesterol I would try to lessen the amount of butter and omit the egg yolk in this variation. This time I peel the prawn shells before cooking to make it easy to pop into the mouth without dirtying the fingers and also convenient for little children to eat. Omit the chillis or split it into halves and take out the seed like I do for small children. Here is a healthier recipe to share......

Ingredients:

600 g medium prawns- peeled and leave the tail part on.

2 sprig curry leaves-take out the stems

5 chilli padis - chopped

5 cloves garlic- chopped

2 tbsp of evaporated milk

1 tbsp of butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp of salt

Marinade: for Prawns

1 egg- slightly beaten

1/2 tsp salt

a dash of pepper

1 tsp cornflour

Method:

Marinade the prawns with egg, salt, pepper and cornflour. Keep aside in fridge for about 30 minutes. Deep fried the prawns in hot oil til just cook or change color. Drain and keep aside.

Then in a clean wok or pan, heat olive oil and butter under medium heat as butter will get easily burnt on high heat. When butter melts, add in the garlic, chopped chillis, curry leaves to fry for a minute or two til fragrant. Next, add in the fried prawns and mix well for another minute. Add milk to it while stirring.

Before dishing out, add in the Nestum ( made sure it is original and not the packet mix which is too sweet for this dish) and stirfry for a minute sprinkling some salt for flavor. For those who love Nestum you can add more to bind with the buttery prawns to make a drier crispy texture.

Kam Heong Chicken.....

Oh dear, its quite sometime since I have posted any of my cooking here. Guess I am pretty busy, not with work but just buzzing around with my lappy, addicted to Farmville games recently which I have to admit. And there were times I had to exercise a lot to get myself ready for my vacation, then had to rest putting up my feet for nearly a week after both my ankles were swollen from too much walking. I had food poisoning which renders me disable for another week which happens few days before my trip to Hong Kong. 'Phew'...what a lucky me to be able to walk the streets of HK after 5 days on plain porridge. Ok, now comes the Kam Heong Chicken which I cook 2 days ago......

Ingredients:

3 chicken thighs deboned

100 ml water

Ingredients for Kam Heong sauce:

2 tbsp dried prawns- soak and chopped

2 tbsp chopped garlic

3 shallots peeled and chopped

2 sprig curry leaves

6 chilli padi,chopped

3 tbsp oil

Seasoning: Mix well in a bowl..

1 tsp curry powder

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp light soya sauce

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp dark soya sauce

2 tbsp water

Marinade:

1 tsp light soya sauce

1 tsp oyster sauce

1 tsp cornflour

a dash of sesame oil

Method:

Mix chicken with marinade and leave aside in fridge for 30 minutes. Deep fry in hot oil til golden brown. Dish and drain.

Heat 3 tbsp oil in a wok, saute dried prawns, chopped garlic, and chopped shallot til fragrant. Add in curry leaves,chilli padi, seasoning and stir fry til aromatic. Add in chicken thighs, water and stir well. Cook til gravy is thick and dish up. I have another Kam Heong recipe for seafood here.

Roti Jala aka Lace Pancake....

Yesterday a friend call me up to ask about the making of Roti Jala which in Malay is translated as net bread. It does not look anything like a bread to me but a lacy pancake is more precise the correct word. It has to be eaten with a curry sauce and so I made some Curry Kapitan to go with it. Here is the recipe to share of the Roti Jala.

Roti Jala cup with five funnels........

Ingredients:

2 cups or 240g flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

120 ml or 1/2 cup thick coconut milk

2 cups or 500 ml water

a pinch of tumeric for colouring

Method:

The batter that is mix til smooth.........

Sift flour into a bowl and add salt and tumeric powder. Combine coconut milk with water. Gradually stir in beaten eggs and coconut milk into flour and beat til batter is smooth. Strain batter to get rid of lumps.

Cooking roti jala in non stick pan............

Grease and heat a non stick pan over low heat. Put a ladleful of batter into roti jala cup and move it in circular motion over pan so that pancake will have a lacy pattern. Cook til set. Fold it into two or fold once and roll up. Serve it with any curry of your choice.

A Bowl of Udon in Soya Milk.....

These days I keep reminding myself that I need to eat healthy food to keep my inflammation down. I do not want to rely totally on my toxic medication to keep me going. So for lunch yesterday, I made my own soya milk from organic soya beans and cook some Udon (Japanese rice noodles) to go with it. Soya products are high in antioxidants and nutrients that have anti-inflammatory effects. Here is to share the recipe.

A bowl of homemade unsweetened soya milk......


Spring onion, cherry tomatoes, dried bean curd skin..(I love dried bean curd skin).................

My favorite, golden mushroom......

Japanese rice noodles..........

My squids, prawns, crabmeat and fishballs.....

Ingredients:

A handful of Udon

A bowl of unsweetened soya milk

A handful of Golden mushrooms

Seafood of your choice(clam,prawns, squids, fish or fishballs)

3 small tomatoes

1 stalk spring onion

2 bak choy leaves

Method:

Cut spring onions into sections and tomatoes into halves. Scald Udon and golden mushroom til cook and set aside.

Mix spring onion sections, tomatoes, soya milk in a pot and bring to boil. Then add Udon, golden mushroom, bak choy, seafood and fishballs and simmer in low heat for a minute til cook. You can also add in an egg before serving.

Tuna Sushi Rice Balls.....

My rice balls taste as good as it looks......


A craze for some healthy food is up my sleeve again and I know it won't be for long before I go back to nasi lemak, nasi ayam, and so on. This time I try making some rice balls using fragrant short grain rice, tuna, eggs and flavor it with some plum sauce, salt and pepper. Here is how I made it yesterday......

Tuna flakes..............

Ingredients:

2 rice bowls of cooked fragrant rice

1 egg- fried in pan and scamble into small pieces

1/2 can tuna

1 tbsp plum sauce

2 tbsp spring onions

salt and pepper to taste

Mixing all the ingredients together......

Frying the flatten rice cakes in pan........

Method:

Pour rice into a cleaned big pot or bowl, mix well together with eggs, chopped spring onion, tuna, plum sauce, pepper ( I use freshly grounded black pepper) and salt.

Place a suitable amount of rice in hand, press hard with both palms and shape into a ball. Flatten it slightly to look like a thick pancake. Then pan-fry it on both sides with a few drops of oil in a non stick pan til it turns slightly brown and serve.

3 Cup Chicken.......

I used to cook this Taiwanese version of 3 Cup chicken many years ago and I have totally forgotten about this dish which used to be my boys favorite. So today I cook it again and would see if they still like it as much as when they were small. 3 cup refers to the 3 important ingredients in this dish, that is sesame oil, soya sauce, and rice wine. But I don't used 3 cups of these to flavor the chicken but only 3 tablespoon because I only cook 3 nos of chicken thighs for my small family. Here is the recipe to share:

Ingredients:

3 chicken thighs- deboned

6 slices of old ginger

2 chillis- cut into 3 sections

8 whole garlic-peeled skin

10 nos basil leaves for garnish

Seasoning:

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp soya sauce

1 tbsp rice wine

2 tsp miso paste

1 tbsp tomato sauce

50 g rock sugar

Method:

In a wok or heavy based pan stirfry ginger, garlic and chillis in sesame oil til fragrant. Cut chicken thighs into big pieces and brown it in a non stick pan til golden brown. Add the chicken to the stirfried ingredients and put in rock sugar, soya sauce, and rice wine and cook covered for 15 mins in a slow fire. Add in a little water if its too dry. Lastly in a small bowl mix miso paste and tomato paste with 2-3 tbsp of water til dissolved . Pour the mixture into the cook chicken and stir well to combine. Add basil leaves and it is ready to be served.

3 cup chicken cooking in pan....

My Buonasera Roast Turkey....

This is a belated post of my roast turkey which I cooked for my sister's Christmas party last month. I had never attempted to cook this big bird before as it is very time comsuming and I never have a liking for its tough meat as prefer to chicken. So I decided to try my hands on this when I saw a special Italian recipe from Flavours magazine. It turns out lovely especially the stuffings which uses fresh herbs, mushrooms, eggs, breadcrumbs and streaky bacons. I would love to try it out with my roast chicken next time. Have some pics here to share as well as the recipe. I made some lovely gravy with chicken stocks and the juices from the roasting pan for dippings instead of cranberry sauce.

My almost 4 kg turkey from Tesco,thaw for a whole day in refrigerator..


Cleaned, pat dry inside and outside with wings tuck under ....oh my...is it the correct way? never mind, that's the only way I could do it....

Ingredients for the stuffings:

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 onion - diced

200g streaky bacon, diced

1 tbsp sage- chopped

1 tbsp thyme- chopped

1 tbsp rosemary- chopped

10g shitake mushroom- sliced

20g oyster mushroom- sliced

40g button mushroom-sliced

4 eggs, beaten

150g fresh breadcrumbs, toasted

sea salt and pepper to taste

Oyster mushroom.........

Shitake mushroom.............


Button mushroom..............

Diced streaky bacon........

Sage.............

Rosemary...........

Thyme............

5kg whole turkey

200ml extra virgin oil

cracked black pepper and sea salt

250ml chicken broth

Gravy:

750ml chicken stock

4 tbsp flour

To make stuffing:

Heat olive oil in pan, cook the onions over over medium heat for 5 mins or til soft. Add bacon, and saute until browned. Add sage, rosemary and thyme and cook for another 5 mins. Add all the mushroom and cook for 2 mins. Remove from heat and leave to cool. Add eggs and breadcrumbs. Mix to combine, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Turkey roasting in oven.................

To roast turkey:

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees celcius. Remove the giblets, neck and excess fat from the turkey. Rinse turkey and pat dry. Season the inside with salt and pepper, and fill with stuffing.

Tie the legs with butcher string. Twist wings under back.

Rub turkey all over with extra virgin oil, and place breast side down, on a rack placed in a shallow roasting tray. Pour chicken broth all over turkey.

Roast for 2 1/2 hrs or until brown, basting the turkey every 30 mins. (I turn it over breast up to cook for a further 30 mins to brown it evenly)

Remove from oven. Cover with aluminium foil for 1 hr, set in a warm place.

To make gravy:

Remove 3 tablespoon of pan juices ( I used more) from the roasting tray into a small saucepan placed over medium heat. Add flour and stir to comnine to a smooth paste. Add chicken stock and cook stirring to prevent any lumps from forming, until the sauce thickens. Season to taste with salt and pepper.