Remember that line from the movie Multiplicity when the character Steve played by Michael Keaton with his third clone who said "I like pizza"? Maybe it's the funny way he said it, but I think of that movie everytime we have pizza. We have a great little place in our town that whips up a delicious, thin, crispy crust, Neopolitan pizza. It's called Proto's, and we like their pizza! Oh, they have great martinis too (I hear!).
Hubs and tots love steak. I usually slice it thinly against the grain for the kiddos, and serve it with rice and some veggies. Tonight, I halved some baby potatoes and roasted them with some olive oil, minced garlic, chopped onions, and seasonings. They finished the whole plate of food, and had bananas and vanilla ice cream for dessert.
Found a recipe in my file for lor mai kai. Tried it this morning while the tots were sleeping. It's usually eaten as a snack and can be found in dim sum places and called hor yip fan if it's wrapped in lotus leaves. There are many variations. Confusing, but nevertheless, very tasty. Here's my first attempt. I used a small glass ramkin for the mold, and added chicken, shitake mushrooms, seasonings, and steamed glutinious rice. Didn't use lap cheong to help reduce the fat content. A small portion goes a long way as it's very filling. Thanks El for your inspiration. Used a recipe from Amy Beh for this one:
Vickie's parents were back in Taiwan recently, and she told them to bring home mooncakes for me. She's so sweet, and her mom even bought some Hello Kitty hair clips and ID tags for the tots! I took a pic of the mini mooncakes as they were so cute. Thanks Vickie and Carol!
A long time ago, I had the pleasure of meeting two wonderful people. They were our next-door neighbors who became like family to me. He always had a smile and humor that was delivered with a straight face. And she always have the news and facts in her finger tips. I used to have them over for meals and I would sit and listen to their stories of when they lived in New York and Wisconsin, or when she was a 2nd grade teacher till she retired. I was just learning to cook and bake, and I often send cookies and cakes over to them. After we moved from that area, they would bring me to restaurants whenever I was in town, and they kept me informed about the old neighborhood. Even though we only lived next to each other for seven years, we kept our friendship through letters and phone calls through the years. Today, I thought of them fondly as I was baking my mango bread pudding. For more than a year now, they have both departed from this world, but I'll always treasure the memories of them...
It was another cold day, and I made a pot roast. With toddlers running amuck (or amok), I decided to use my pressure cooker that Hubs gave me couple of years ago. I love my Russell Hobbs pressure cooker. It's so convenient to have a pot roast dinner done in under an hour. I browned the boneless chuck roast in the cooker, added broth, Lipton's onion mix, and cooked it for 30mins. While that is going, I chopped up some celery, onions, carrots, mushrooms and turnips (more flavor than potatoes) and minced garlic. These veggies and seasonings were added to the pot roast after the safety button is released, and cooked for another 15mins. The result was quick, moist, tender pot roast which I served with brown rice and a green salad.
Found a wonderful lemon and lime juicer last weekend. Used it for the first time yesterday, and I loved it! I had a big bag of limes that are quite ripe, and I juiced it in under 10 mins. I yield more than 2 cups of juice. Made limeade, salsa with lime, spegatti with lime chicken, and lemon-lime cake! Good thing my family likes lime too!
Made this tonight. I marinated the pork chops with soy sauce and garlic. Then browned it, and baked it with fresh button mushrooms, cream, seasonings and rosemary for 45 mins. It came out juicy and tasty! Served it with julienne vegetable medley and rice.
Last weekend, I cohursted my dear girlfriend to come over and help me make the lotus paste for mooncakes. I had bought the dried lotus seeds with husk, and she instructed me to boil 600gm till the husk fell off, then wash all the husk away. Removing the husk was tedious. I then placed it in the pressure cooker for 30 mins, and when she came over, we processed it till fine. Now comes the slow part. Then we had to fry the sugar till it carmelizes, added the lotus seeds, and cooked it till dry. Then we added vegetable oil, and cooked it till all the oil was absorbed. I was definitely working those arm muscles that day! Will freeze these until I have time to make some ping pei mooncakes next weekend.:P
Hubs loves chicken satay. I made these with a combination of recipes from girlfriend C, and my cookbooks. It's has a little kick from ginger, and a nice fragrance from the orange zest. The roasted and crushed peanuts added a wonderful crunch to the sauce and I used a little of C's chilli oil to add a hint of heat. Hubs wants me to make this again. If only I remember the quantities of ingredients that I put in during my experiment! (HA!)
Since I couldn't get hold of Chinese Olives over here, I made do with Kalamata Olives and it added a wonderful flavor and depth to this dish.
Was so excited when I found this! This is my second purchase. Fresh and not canned. And so cute! My mom used these in her stir-frys, but I decided to make a vegetable curry today. It's my version of Sayur Lodeh with corn, asaparagus, shallots, and golden raisins. Made my rempah, added coconut milk and simmer the vegetables for 10-15 mins. Served with nasi lamak (coconut rice) and grilled halibut. Yummm...
Hubs requested for chicken salad, so I poached some chicken breasts and enhanced it with red grapes, celery, sauted red onions, toasted sesame seeds, salt and pepper, and topped with a mayo-lime dressing.
LCOM told me about Prima Taste Laksa Mix, and we actually shared two cases that we bought from a website. Well, I'm into my third box, and loving the special taste of laksa on a cool day. Thanks to another LCOM tip, I added DODO fish ball to my salmon and shrimp laksa. Thanks girlfriend!
My wonderful babysitter is a vegetarian, so I made her a version of beans and rice. I simmered corn, red peppers, peas, and green onions to kidney beans, favored it with a touch of cumin and served it with brown rice. To my delight, she had seconds! Unfortunately, I didn't take a pic! I also baked her a blueberry cake. And I remembered my camera! Made it in a bundt cake mold, and it turned out great.
Since having kids, I have developed a craving for many sweet morsels, including mooncakes. Maybe it's because I miss the huge array of different mooncakes in South East Asia where one can select from ping pei, cantonese, teochew, ice-cream and the list goes on... Ahhh, and the exciting part of friends and aunties discussing who and where has the best selections each year.
Bought a sesame seed/spice toaster from a cooking store as I wanted a gadget (like I needed more!) to toast small amount of sesame seeds over the gas stove. Here's a pic of it.
Tau Foo Fah is smooth, silky soya bean curd that's commonly eaten as a sweet snack in Asia. Judy had introduced me to this Japanese 'instant' quick packets in Manila a while back, and I forgotten about them until LCOM mentioned it. Had some at LCOM's recently, and was craving for more. So I made some and added almond essence favoring in the sugar syrup. Mmmm...
Fall is in the air today, and it was cccold. Made Mom's Chili but without adding the spicy peppers, and it hit the spot. Even the tots were having seconds...
