After The Long Silence

Ahoy there! It's me again. Although I don't blog, I still find the time to keep on reading entries from my favourite sites and by doing this, I do feel at ease after my long, tiring day at work. Anyway, since this blog is about food and cooking, I managed to squeeze some time last Sunday to prepare a dish for my Mr KHz. I do miss cooking for him on a regular basis. On the other hand, I do feel grateful that he understands my situation at the moment (although he does mention that I haven't cooked his favourite meals for quite some time) so, here goes! To Mr KHz and his cherished tummy!

'KUETIAU KUNGFU'

This simple but satisfying dish was inspired by Mat Gebu ( with alteration, of course). After all, he is a master in the kitchen, so there's nothing to worry in trying his recipes. Well, the ingredients needed are:

A)

500g g flat rice noodles (kuetiau)

3 large eggs

B)

100g prawns (shelled but leave the tails intact)
150g chicken fillet (cubed)
100g squids (cleaned and cut into rings)

150g cauliflower (cut into florets)

150g broccoli (cut into florets)
1 medium size carrot (julienne)
3 pips of garlic (finely chopped)

2 red chillies (sliced)
2 tbsp of cooking oil
2 tbsp of cornflour, to be mixed with 1/2 cup of water
1 tbsp of chicken granules, to be mixed with 1/2 cup of hot water
2 tbsp of oyster sauce
1 tbsp of ground white pepper

Method:

For the gravy

1. Heat the oil in a wok and stir fry the chopped garlic till fragrant.
2. Put in the prawns, chicken and squids. Pour in the chicken granules mixture, pepper, oyster sauce and carrot and let to boil over medium fire.
3. Next, put in the cauliflower and broccoli and the cornflour mixture and mix well.
4. Then, lower the heat and simmer till the vegetables are cooked and add salt to taste. Keep aside.

For the noodles:

1. First, beat the eggs in a bowl and keep aside.
2. Then, using a non-stick wok, heat the oil and put in the noodles. Stir fry for 2 minutes and pour in the beaten eggs over the noodles and keep stirring till the noodles are slightly brown and crisp.

To serve:

1. Put in the noodles into a bowl and spoon the gravy over the noodles.
2. Serve with sliced red chillies and fried shallots.

Healthy Eating? Cikyah? What?

Good morrow peeps! Do you like(or rather surprised by) the title? Anyway, what do people really mean with healthy eating? Well, I do take the skin off the chicken before cooking. I have ommitted coconut milk in my curry and use chopped tomatoes to thicken the gravy. I try not to put any MSG in cooking and I always insist on fresh ingredients. Am I on the right track to healthy eating? Tell me....

Well, as an attempt to start eating healthily, I prepared this recipe for my lunch yesterday. I have ammended Amy Beh's Healthy Pasta Salad recipe and surprisingly, my colleagues at school enjoyed it. What about me? I enjoyed it too!

Here's the recipe if you plan to have something simple yet filling for your lunch and it serves four.

HEALTHY PASTA SALAD

You need:
400g of tricolour fussili (spiral pasta)
3 pieces of Ayamas chicken ham (or you can put steamed chicken breast cut into small pieces)
1 medium size red capsicum
1 medium size yellow capsicum

For the dressing:
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
freshly cracked black peppercorns

Method:

• Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet (till al dente) and drain.
• Meanwhile, put the capsicums on your stove top and cook till black and charred. Next, put into a bowl and cover with a cling film. Keep aside for 10 minutes.
• Then, slice the chicken ham into small, thin slices and put into a mixing bowl.
• After that, peel the skin of the capsicums and deseed. Slice into thin strips and put into the mixing bowl. Then, put in your pasta.
• For the dressing, put everything in a glass jar. Put the lid on and shake till well-mixed. Pour into the mixing bowl and toss well.
• Serve.
  

When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Gets....'Larder-Ransacking'!

On Thursday morning, I cannot really figure out what to cook for lunch. On weekdays, only the kids have lunch at home so usually, I just have to figure out what's for dinner. At certain times, I really cannot think of what kind of dish to prepare. It feels as if I have cooked everything. If there's 'a writer's block', I wonder, "Is there is 'a cook's block' too?" When I am in this condition, I will go 'larder-ransacking' and here is another dish that I would recommend if ever you are having 'a cook's block'.

SIMPLE SPAGHETTI WITH CHEESE AND HERBS SAUCE

To save you from a hard time figuring out what to prepare, you just need:

• 250g spaghetti (ccoked according to instructions on the package and drained but save 1 and 1/ cans of the water used for boiling)
• 1 can of Prego Cheese and Herbs sauce
• 150g chicken fillet (cut into small pieces)
• 1 medium size yellow onion (chopped)
• 2 pips of garlic (chopped)
• 1 can of button mushroom (sliced)
• a handful of parsley (chopped)
• 1 1/2 cans of water used to boil the spaghetti ( I used the sauce can to measure)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• salt and ground white pepper to taste
• parmesan cheese
  
  Method:
  
• In a large pot, heat the olive oil and put in the chopped onion and stir till translucent but do not brown the onion pieces.
• Next, put in the chicken pieces and stir till cooked.
• Then, put in the sauce. Stir and put in the water. Keep on stirring till the sauce is bubbling.
• When the sauce thickens, put in your spaghetti.
• Put the chopped parsley and add salt and white pepper to taste.
• Stir till the spaghetti is well-coated and pile onto a warm serving platter and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
• Bon apetit!

When Cikyah Cleans The Larder

Hi peeps! It's been quite long since my last entry. Like the month of April, May has seen me dashing to school earlier and earlier. In fact, my Saturdays have been taken by some 'mind-opening' (if you can put it in such a way) sessions in school. This is the time when I would feel very guilty leaving the kiddos at home. The weekends have always been my slaving-in-the-kitchen time where I would be very obliged to cook any dishes requested. As I was not able to keep to this routine, I managed to find an alternative in order to put my mind at ease as well as making sure the kiddos(and Mr KHz, especially), are feeling happy due to their full tummies.

Inspired by Nigella's belief that 'Simplicity is the best'(as it was already 9.30pm!), I began to 'ransack' the larder (and the freezer) to look for available ingredients. You want to know what I found? Here they are:

And using all the ingredients in the photo above, I managed to come up with this:

SPAGHETTI WITH TOMATO CHICKEN SAUCE

What? The sauce looks like the usual bolognaise? Nay, I would not yes because this is my own concoction. The bolognaise of course, is of a class of its own! As I've mentioned beforehand, cooking to me is partly experiment but fully joyful. Although at times, my experiments do not produce satisfactory results, cooking has always manged to comfort me. Frankly, from the bottom of my heart and tummy as well, you should try cooking this simple sauce.

To cook this sauce, you need:

• 1 can(400g) of peeled tomatoes
• 1 can of button mushrooms (thinly sliced)
• 1 medium size onion (finely diced)
• 200g of diced chicken
• 3 tsbps of olive oil
• 2 tbsp of tomato puree
• 2 and 1/2 tbsps soft brown sugar
• 2 tsps of dried parsley
• salt to taste
• 2 cans of water ( I used the tomato can to measure)

Method:

• Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a pot and sautee the onion till translucent and put in the tomatoes. Stir well. Let to cool for 10 minutes.
• Put in the tomato mixture into a blender and pour in 1 can of water and blend till fine.
• In the same pot, put in another tablesoonful of olive oil and fry the diced chicken. Stir till well-cooked and pour in the tomato mixture and another can of water.
• Put in the tomato puree, sugar and add salt to taste. Do not forget the parsley!
• Over medium heat, stir occassionally till you arrrive at your desired consistency.
• Spoon over your spaghetti and sprinkle some grated parmesan and voila!

Cikyah, Nak Mee Udang Satu!!

Hi peeps! It's been quite long since I last blogged. This week has been very hectic for me. I spent most of my mornings in school. Then, went home to do the cooking and rushed back in the afternoons for the teaching part. When I reached home, I really felt like a big lump of jelly. Tell me about wobbly limbs and heavy eyelids and zero percent of energy. I really hate to arrive at home in such condition for I won't be able to spend that much needed(I'm talking about my needs here) precious time for my kiddos. Why? I'll doze off to slumberland much earlier then them! I do pity my kids. I sincerely hope that those extra-curricular activities would finish soon. For the time being, I believe I just have to drag myself and keep telling my tired brain that I can still hang in tough.

Well, enough of me lamenting about my work in school. Let's share something more interesting-like my Prawn Noodles. Hearty and yummy! If you plan to have a 'makan-makan', this dish is also quite economical because the recipe for the gravy can serve between 6 to 8 people. However, make sure that your guests are not allergic to prawns!

Prawn Noodles

Ingredients:

500g yellow/flat noodles

1/2 a chicken

10 cups of water

1/2 kg of prawns (peeled and clean but keep the shells(washed thoroughly) aside)

15 shallots ]

5 cloves of garlic ] (to be ground finely)

1 inch of ginger ]

10 pieces of dried chillies ]

salt and sugar to taste

1/2 tsp of MSG

1/2 cup of cooking oil

For the 'sambal':

1 cup ground dried chillies

1 onion (ground)

1/2 inch shrimp paste

salt and sugar to taste

For the garnish:

200g 'kangkung' @ water convulvulous (blanched)

5 hard boiled eggs (halved)

chopped spring onions

fried shallots

deep fried tofu (thinly sliced)

Method:

• First, boil the chicken using 10 cups of water for 30 minutes. Take out the chicken, tear the flesh into shreds and keep aside. Put the bones back into the pot containing the chicken stock and keep on boiling.
• Heat the oil in a high pot and stir fry the prawn shells till caramelised. Take out the shells and put into the blender. Pour in 1 cup of the chicken stock and blend till fine. Sieve the juice and pour into the pot containing the chicken stock.
• Using the oil used to fry the prawn shells, stir fry the ground ingredients till fragrant and the oil separates from the gravy. Pour this into the boiling stock.
• Keep on boiling until you get a clear, orangy broth. Take out the bones and put in the MSG.
• Add salt and sugar to taste.
• For the 'sambal', stir fry the ingredients till fragrant and the oil separates from the gravy. Put in the salt and sugar to taste. Keep aside.
• To serve, put in your yellow/flat noodles in a bowl. Pour the gravy and garnish with 'kangkung', sliced fried tofu, hard boiled eggs and fried shallots. Top with the 'sambal'.
• Enjoy!

'WAT TAN HOR'

Hi! It's me again. For today's entry, the dish would be 'Wat Tan Hor' or in simple words, Kuey Teow Fried In Soy Sauce with Egg Gravy. Whooo! The Chinese name is certainly much simpler. I had my first taste of this dish way back in 1998. My sister, Abbot introduced it to me when we had dinner at Jusco Melaka Food Court. I really enjoyed it! The version that I had did not use any soy sauce to fry the noodles but it came with a small plate of sliced red chillies in light soy sauce to enhance the taste. Try this version and let me know the verdict, ya! This recipe is from che 'iza@MyResipi.com.

'WAT TAN HOR' or KUEY TEOW FRIED IN SOY SAUCE WITH EGG GRAVY

You will need :

For the noodles

350 g of kuey teow

2 pips of garlic (bashed and chopped roughly)

1 tsp of dark soy sauce

1 tbsp sweet soy sauce

2 tbsp of oyster sauce

2 tsp of ground white pepper

For the gravy:

2 pips of garlic (bashed and chopped finely)

1 tbsp of chopped ginger

8 prawns(shelled)

1 chicken breast(diced)

2 baby corn (sliced thinly)

1/2 carrot (sliced thinly)

1 cup of cauliflower

1 cup of broccoli

1 tsp of chicken granules

500ml water

1 tbsp cornflour (to be mixed with one tbsp of water)

salt to taste

Method :

• For the kuey teow,heat the oil and fry the garlic until fragrant. Then, put in the kuey teow.
• Stir well and put in the other ingredients. Mix well and put aside.
• For the gravy, heat the oil and fry the garlic until fragrant.Then, put in the water and let to boil.
• Then, put in all the ingredients and let it boil again.
• Put in the cornflour mixture and stir.
• Crack the egg and stir so the egg cooked into thin strips. Add salt to taste.
• To serve, pour the gravy over the prepared kuey teow.
• Serve with thin slices of red chillies soaked in light soy sauce.
• Enjoy!