Kuih Keria FAIL

I wanted to make this:

...but this was the results:

Haha!

I made two mistakes. 

One, I accidentally bought Japanese sweet potatoes and two, I used brown sugar.

FAIL.

I'm not sure if I will try again. 

Maybe. 

pearlie

Out of energy, out of ideas

I'm already running out of energy and ideas to cook. 

But more out of energy than anything.

pearlie

My finger got fried

I was careless while preparing dinner today that I got hot oil splashed on my finger and got it scalded.

It was so painful but dinner had to be served and so I continued cooking with water running down my hand or a cold pack wrapped around my finger. 

As a result, the kitchen was in a mess, since I can only cook with one hand. But dinner was good. I made fried rice rice with luncheon meat. 

It then took me 3 hours to dull the pain. I was adviced to use apple cider vinegar and aloe vera and a few other things which I do not have, but in the end, only cold water worked. 

It doesn't look too bad but it's about 2cm long with a big blob of blister in the middle of it. 

I read that it will take 3 weeks for it to heal. Apparently I do not need any bandage if the blister is not broken but it will be a challenge not to irritate it.

This is what happens when I am not careful.

And this when my friend suffered the same fate with boiling hot water yesterday.

Tsk tsk tsk...yeah, how careless.

pearlie

I can't imagine having to cook everyday but now I do!

I am no cook and this 16 days of having to cook at home has been hard.

I don't cook everyday, we took delivery but only once and we do venture out to take away food. We still get to eat the food we like, from nearby restaurants.

But when I cook, it's either...

...beef spaghetti or...

...pork or beef porridge.

And a few other dishes I don't care to mention, though my kimchi fried rice and my variety of sandwiches aren't too bad either. 

But I need to cook something different.

pearlie

A Good Saturday

I have never appreciated a Saturday like how I appreciated today. 

It was so refreshing that it's a I-do-not-need-to work-at-home day. I spent most of the time in the kitchen though, and enjoying it. 

I am no cook and I prepare the simplest of things, nothing fancy and certainly nothing gourmet. It's as long as I get something edible and tasty on the table. 

It is a good day. I'm so sad that it's almost over. 

And by the way, that's not my kitchen up there. It would be a kitchen I'd love to have though. Isn't it gorgeous?

pearlie

Let me encourage and motivate you to cook!

I have begun to cook and bring my lunch to work. I found that it is so easy and it doesn't stress me up at all. And it's healthier and so much cheaper. 

It all began with a fluke. 

One evening some months back, I realized that I have these lamb shanks in the freezer I need to cook them already. 

And I only have onions. 

The thing is I cannot even say that I don't usually cook.  More accurately, I don't cook at all!

I popped the lamb and onions into the pressure cooker and amazingly it came out so well. But I couldn't finish it and so I decided to freeze it and brought it to work the next day. 

That's how it all started. It was easy, tasty and very satisfying. When I had reheated the lamb at work, the others in the pantry area kept trying to figure out where the awesome aroma was coming from. I was smiling to myself and quite amused too since it's nothing but just lamb and onions. 

Since then I have bought some small containers for storing and freezing. And I have not been really adventurous. I just kept it simple. 

Here's what I do. 

I buy a ginseng soup pack and a tray of 4 to 6 drumsticks. I put them all in the pressure cooker with 2 cups of water for 30 minutes. I separate them into 4 containers. I freeze them. 

I cook 2 cups of brown rice for 20 minutes in the pressure cooker and store them in 6 separate containers. I freeze them. 

And the beauty of it is that I can do these two things on separate days. 

And here is what I have for every serving. The chicken in ginseng soup, rice, a bowl of fresh green vegetables and a bowl of dried seaweed with added hot water:

I assemble them and this is what I get:

I am one person that don't mind eating the same thing over and over again. But this time I had this craving for Thai Green Curry. I followed this recipe and made 4 servings of this:

This took a little longer since I did not use the pressure cooker but the jar of ready-made Green Curry simplified the process by a whole lot. I couldn't find any bamboo shoots but next time I will substitute it with green beans. 

I am very glad I took the Coursera course, Stanford Introduction to Food and Health. I usually forget what I learnt but this one thing stayed with me:

Keep it simple and stick to the few ingredients you have. You don't have to be fanciful. Stick to the basics. You don't have to cook like a gourmet. Forget those cooking shows. They are just for show. 

Let me encourage you to cook!

I can still stick to these two recipes with some variations. One medium turkey thigh instead of chicken drumsticks. And there are so many different kinds of soup packs. I'll try Bak Kut Teh the next round. And I just heard someone said the word Marmite. Hmm...I'd try Marmite Chicken after that. The key is to just keep it simple. 

So go cook!

pearlie

The amount of sugar in our food

Like in the days when I was a crazy baker–I used to bake a cake every two days–now you know I am trying my hand on cooking. 

And in the process of doing so, I have learnt a very important lesson: the food that we eat out may contain quite a lot and more sugar than we can imagine. 

For one, I love the Chinese sweet soups, tong sui, and I would stop by the shops or stalls and order my favorites whenever I have the chance. But since I have bought a pressure cooker, wouldn't it be better if I make it myself. I realize of course that I can't make just one bowl but I can't finish a whole pot all by myself. So with that to begin with is already a bad idea. But I went ahead anyway. 

I followed this recipe for mak zuk or wheat porridge. The results was not to my satisfaction at all. I have already put in more sugar than what was prescribed in the recipe and it still doesn't taste sweet enough. But I am giving up – I am not going to put it anymore sugar and I have decided it's better to discard the whole pot than to eat up the whole receptacle of carbohydrates now should I. No more making tong sui for me. 

This was after the last time I made vinegared pork knuckles. The recipe called for 2 cups of brown sugar and I went like, "what?!!!". I used barely a cup. It did not taste as good I presume, a lot more sourish than those I have had tasted in the shops, but quite close to my late grandma's, so that's good as far as I'm concerned.  

You'll find a lot of articles out there that tell us how much sugar is hiding in our food and foods we don't expect to have dangerous amount of sugar. They give us a list of high sugar processed foods and advise us to check the nutritional labels before buying anything. But in a culture where eating out is a norm, we will never know how much sugar is in our food until we start cooking it ourselves. 

pearlie

It's chicken roll weekend

It has become a chicken roll weekend here. I made an air fried version of Pesto Cheesy Chicken Roll yesterday and this afternoon I tried another chicken roll recipe the air fryer way: Bacon Wrapped Cream Cheese Chicken Roll. 

As much as I loved the pesto version yesterday, my hubby didn't really like it but he loved this bacon cream cheese one. What is it with men and bacon?

Air Fried Bacon Wrapped Cream Cheese Chicken Roll

Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken breast - pounded to about 1/4-inch thick

3 tablespoons cream cheese

3 tablespoon green onion, chopped

4 pieces bacon

Method:

Mix together cream cheese and green onions and spread cheese mixture over 1 side of chicken breast. Roll chicken breast up to conceal cream cheese. Wrap bacon around chicken breast and secure with toothpick. Air fry it for 18 minutes.

pearlie

Air Fried Pesto Chessy Chicken Roll

I have made my own pesto sauce a couple of days ago and was looking forward to try this recipe I found which I have converted to an air fryer version: Air Fried Pesto Chessy Chicken Roll. It's absolutely yummy!

Here's the recipe:

Air Fried Pesto Chessy Chicken Roll

Ingredients:

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded to 1/4 inch thickness

1/2 cup prepared basil pesto

2 thick slices mozzarella cheese

Method:

Spread 2 to 3 tablespoons of the pesto sauce onto each flattened chicken breast. Place one slice of cheese over the pesto. Roll up tightly, and secure with toothpicks. Cook them for 16 minutes in the air fryer. 

pearlie

Blissful Weekend

I had a lovely weekend of cooking and eating and TV. Bliss!

I made dry curry chicken and watched the entire season 1 of Fresh Off the Boat. Totally hilarious. I then started watching Mr Selfridge. Very interesting series. 

And why does this blogpost sound like a Facebook post. Looks like I have finally been Facebooked. Bad. 

pearlie

I made Jue Giok Chou! (Vinegared Pork Knuckles)

I have not really made anything yet with my new pressure cooker other than just porridge to test it out. I wanted to make something special with it and thought why not Vinegared Pork Knuckles or Jue Giok Chou. 

The last time it was made at home was when my late grandma was around. She made the best Jue Giok Chou. I don't have her recipe and so I used this one here. 

It turned out not too bad. The next time I do it, I will reduce the amount of ginger and dilute the dark vinegar a bit. But I'm happy with the result. Hubby is definitely happy.  

I promised my dad some and he'd be happy with it too since he likes it more with a kick. 

pearlie

My next kitchen appliance: a pressure cooker

I have never used a pressure cooker before but as I was checking it out, I think it will be a very useful appliance to have, especially when it can really reduce cooking time. 

I am just unsure which kind to buy. Prices can range from RM55 to RM2880! And even if I can afford one that cost RM400, would it be a good buy? Or could one costing RM100 be just as good? I don't know. I am reluctant because I want to be sure that the pot I get is safe. I do not want it to explode in my face. I was joking with my husband that people who died from exploding pressure cookers would not leave any reviews.

pearlie 

Dried Bok Choy Soup with Rice Vermicelli

I made Dried Bok Choy Soup (Choy Gon Tong) and instead of having it with rice, I used rice vermicelli (meen seen). My favourite soup with my favourite noodle. Yummy...

pearlie

To cook or not to cook, that is the consequential question

My husband have been watching this new documentary series on Netflix called "Cooked" by Michael Pollan. He was very impressed by it and insisted that I at least watch the last episode: Episode 4, Earth. 

It was an outstanding episode on fermentation and food. Do you know that cocoa is actually from fermented beans? And I absolutely loved the section on cheese. 

Pollan said, "Disgust is one of the primary human emotions, an instinctive reaction to something that offends our sense of taste and could be dangerous. Cheese reconnects us with a very earthy side of life, and about decay and decomposition."

He was featuring this nun, Sister Noelle Marcellino who is also a microbiologist from Abbey Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, Connecticut. She makes a version of a French cheese called Saint-Nectaire, a raw milk, uncooked, natural ruins cheese made strictly according to ancient techniques that have been practiced in France for hundreds of years. 

It's what she said about eating cheese that impressed me, "It's this sense that we're eating decomposition, break-down product. You could call it death. To me, it's a taste of that, but a promise of something delicious. So, I think it's almost a subconscious way of being prepared for death and facing our own mortality. And for me, that analogy of really, a death, a decomposition creating this wonderful flavor, it's a promise of something better. I experience that over and over again when I look at cheese, when I smell cheese, and when then I look at cheese the microbial ecology of cheese. That's the wonder for me, that it's a promise of life beyond death."

How profound.

The episode then concluded with Pollan reading this portion from his book, Cooked, "To cook or not to cook thus becomes a consequential question.

Though I realize that is putting the matter a bit too bluntly. Cooking means different things at different times to different people; seldom is it an all-or-nothing proposition. Yet even to cook a few more nights a week than you already do, or to devote a Sunday to making a few meals for the week, or perhaps to try every now and again to make something you only ever expected to buy—even these modest acts will constitute a kind of a vote. A vote for what, exactly? Well, in a world where so few of us are obliged to cook at all anymore, to choose to do so is to lodge a protest against specialization—against the total rationalization of life. Against the infiltration of commercial interests into every last cranny of our lives. To cook for the pleasure of it, to devote a portion of our leisure to it, is to declare our independence from the corporations seeking to organize our every waking moment into yet another occasion for consumption...It is to reject the debilitating notion that, at least while we’re at home, production is work best done by someone else, and the only legitimate form of leisure is consumption. This dependence marketers call “freedom.”

Cooking has the power to transform more than plants and animals: It transforms us, too, from mere consumers into producers. Not completely, not all the time, but I have found that even to shift the ratio between these two identities a few degrees toward the side of production yields deep and unexpected satisfactions. 

Cooked is an invitation to alter, however slightly, the ratio between production and consumption in your life. The regular exercise of these simple skills for producing some of the necessities of life increases self-reliance and freedom while reducing our dependence on distant corporations. Not just our money but our power flows toward them whenever we cannot supply any of our everyday needs and desires ourselves. And it begins to flow back toward us, and our community, as soon as we decide to take some responsibility for feeding ourselves. This has been an early lesson of the rising movement to rebuild local food economies, a movement that ultimately depends for its success on our willingness to put more thought and effort into feeding ourselves. Not every day, not every meal—but more often than we do, whenever we can.

Cooking, I found, gives us the opportunity, so rare in modern life, to work directly in our own support, and in the support of the people we feed. If this is not “making a living,” I don’t know what is. In the calculus of economics, doing so may not always be the most efficient use of an amateur cook’s time, but in the calculus of human emotion, it is beautiful even so. For is there any practice less selfish, any labor less alienated, any time less wasted, than preparing something delicious and nourishing for people you love?"

Wow...this is certainly so fitting for me in my desire to get back to cooking. I will surely go get a copy of the book now, and watch the first three episodes before my free Netflix expires, which is tomorrow.

pearlie

Air-Fried Pavakka (Bitter Gourd)

I love pavakka or fried bitter gourd. I would always order it when I eat in Indian restaurants. I found a recipe and thought I should try it in my air-fryer. It was a success and tasted absolutely wonderful. It's dry, just the way I like them. They are crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, and salted with a bitter tang to it.  It's like healthy potato chips, just a wee bit bitter. 

AIR-FRIED PAVAKKA

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 cups sliced bitter gourd. Get the smaller ones. 

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp chili powder

A dash of oil

A dash of salt

Instructions 

1. Slice the bitter gourd thin if you like it all crunchy and slightly thicker but not too thick if you want it soft on the inside. Remove the center part of each slice. Put it in a plate.

2. Drizzle in turmeric powder, chili powder and oil. 

3. Mix it until evenly covered.

4. Put them into the air fryer basket and fry at 200°C for 14 to 16 minutes. Check a couple of time to ensure they don't get too brown or dry.

5. Sprinkle with salt and serve.

Enjoy!

pearlie

Dessert in just 10 minutes

I am happy that my cooking project is indeed coming along very well. I am no great cook and I only make really simple food for two or three. But so far I am happy and so is my husband and son.

I have not really ventured into that many recipes yet. And I was once told that any regular home cook, not the Master Chef kind, would only cook around ten of the same dishes. Maybe more now I don't know.

After having dinner which I made, I wanted some dessert. The tub of ice cream I picked up from the store was gone. My son must have got to it. I then remembered I have seen some microwave mug cake recipes. Ok, I am a bit slow to the scene but I thought that was a brilliant idea. 

I found this recipe in Ricardo Cuisine for a Moist Chocolate Cake in a Cup. I must say it's nothing like a real piece of cake hot from the oven but with just 5 minutes of preparation, 45 seconds of cooking and 5 minutes of standing time, it is an excellent dessert, spongy and chocolaty. I only wished I had some whipped cream to go with it.  I am certainly adding it into my groceries list for my get next trip to the store. 

pearlie

P/S 28 Mar 2016: I tried this other recipe and it's way better: The Moistest Chocolate Mug Cake. This is definitely a keeper. I did not have chocolate spread and used bits of a milk chocolate bar. Yummmmy...

Food processor or Chopper

I am getting along with my project to get back to cooking. I wanted to upgrade on my kitchen appliances and get a kitchen processor. Or should I just get a chopper instead. 

I did some research both in Google and by asking my friends. The feedback I got was that the kitchen processor is usually only used for the first few times and then avoided like a plague because cleaning and washing it is an absolute hassle. It then dawned on me that it was exactly what happened with my unit when I first got it many years ago. It just wasn't worth the effort if I just want to chop some garlic or onions, which is what I usually need to do. 

With that, I decided to just get a chopper. I redeemed  this Lebensstil unit using my credit card points and I used it for the first time this evening. It was easy to use, to wash and clean. I knew made the right choice. 

The next item to get is a mandolin slicer. I believe it will be much easier to use and more effective than a kitchen processor. But they are hard to find. The unit I found near my office sold by a culinary university appliance store cost more than RM1000! I will be hunting around for a much, much cheaper unit. 

pearlie

I finally have an island in my kitchen

I have a small kitchen but I have been wishing for a kitchen island for the longest time all the while thinking I need a contractor to build one. My husband was watching a cooking documentary on Netflix yesterday afternoon when it suddenly dawned on me that I could get a simple small one from Ikea. 

I like to do things the moment I think about them if possible and so off I went to Ikea right there and then. 

IKEA Olofstorp Storage Island with Expandable Top

I am very happy to have found the Olofstorp Storage Island. It was not listed in the IKEA app. I only found it when I got there, which was good because unlike the other models, this is just the right size for my kitchen. With the expandable top, it is narrow and long - perfect for my smallish kitchen. And it looks rustic too, just my type. 

I spent three hours assembling it yesterday evening, all on my own, until I needed help to tighten 28 screws that was too tight for my already red and sore hands. I then passed it on to my husband. The island is still standing in the lounge where I was assembling it. He has yet to complete it. I hope to go home today with it in the kitchen. 

pearlie

Recipe Managers

Things have certainly changed since I was last active in the kitchen. Anyway, it's not that I've stopped cooking. I've just stopped experimenting and being creative, and as a result I cook only when I have to. But I've definitely stopped baking. 

Now that I'm getting myself back into the kitchen. I'm beginning to update myself both in kitchen gadgets and technological tools as well. 

Back then, I was in love with this app called the PDACookbook Plus. Looking at this screenshot certainly bring back many good memories. I was collecting recipes then by printing them out and filing them. But I soon moved onto a digital manager with this app in my Palm devices and found it really useful. Well, I've moved on from my PDAs a long time ago and this app is no longer being supported. I found out though that they have a new app called the PDACookbook LIVE, but with a high price tag of $11.99. 

I have gotten this app instead, the Paprika Recipe Manager, for $4.99. I have been filling it with recipes in the last couple of hours and here's a screenshot of it. I have not used it in the kitchen yet. I was using the free ChefTap but I was having problems when I want to clip recipes from the web. I must say though that when it works, it actually works better than Paprika. But I'm liking it a lot, what more with the plethora of recipes now available online. It's like having a cookbook with the most gorgeous looking food. 

Looking again at my TNT (tried-and-true) recipes, I am certainly feeling motivated again to make them. I'm off to the kitchen now to roast some chicken wings. 

pearlie 

Roast Chicken with Two Lemons

This is my all-time favorite roast chicken recipe - Marcella Hazan's Roast Chicken with Two Lemons. 

When I was researching the air fryer before buying it, I found that it can actually roast a chicken. And so I have been looking forward to trying out this recipe in my air fryer. The trick though is that the air fryer I bought isn't too big and so I could only fit in a small chicken and one lemon. The results was spectacular. The skin was delightfully crispy, meat succulent and drippings flavorful. 

And it's the simplest roast chicken recipe ever. All I did was to rub the entire chicken inside and out with lots of salt and black pepper. Then press the lemon on the table and roll it firmly to release its juice within. Poke the lemon with many holes with a toothpick and pop it into the chicken cavity. Seal the chicken with a toothpick and put it into the air fryer. Cook it for 45 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius. Turn the chicken over and cook it for another 15 minutes. Serve hot.

My husband loved it. He even said it was better than Nando's, our favorite roast chicken! I'm so pleased. 

Here's the recipe for the conventional oven. 

Marcella Hazan’s Roast Chicken With Lemons
Cook 2 hr ∙ Makes 4 servings

INGREDIENTS
3 to 4-pound chicken
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
2 rather small lemons

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Wash the chicken thoroughly in cold water, both inside and out. Remove all the bits of fat hanging loose. Let the bird sit for about 10 minutes on a slightly tilted plate to let all the water drain out of it. Pat it thoroughly dry all over with cloth or paper towels.
3. Sprinkle a generous amount of salt and black pepper on the chicken, rubbing it with your fingers over all its body and into its cavity.
4. Wash the lemons in cold water and dry them with a towel. Soften each lemon by placing it on a counter and rolling it back and forth as you put firm downward pressure on it with the palm of your hand. Puncture the lemons in at least 20 places each, using a sturdy round toothpick, a trussing needle, a sharp-pointed fork, or similar implement.
5. Place both lemons in the bird's cavity. Close up the opening with toothpicks or with trussing needle and string. Close it well, but don't make an absolutely airtight job of it because the chicken may burst. Run kitchen string from one leg to the other, tying it at both knuckle ends. Leave the legs in their natural position without pulling them tight. If the skin is unbroken, the chicken will puff up as it cooks, and the string serves only to keep the thighs from spreading apart and splitting the skin.
6. Put the chicken into a roasting pan, breast facing down. Do not add cooking fat of any kind. This bird is self-basting, so you need not fear it will stick to the pan. Place it in the upper third of the preheated oven. After 30 minutes, turn the chicken over to have the breast face up. When turning it, try not to puncture the skin. If kept intact, the chicken will swell like a balloon, which makes for an arresting presentation at the table later. Do not worry too much about it, however, because even if it fails to swell, the flavor will not be affected.
7. Cook for another 30 to 35 minutes, then turn the oven thermostat up to 400 degrees, and cook for an additional 20 minutes. Calculate between 20 and 25 minutes total cooking time for each pound. There is no need to turn the chicken again.
8. Whether your bird has puffed up or not, bring it to the table whole and leave the lemons inside until it is carved and opened. The juices that run out are perfectly delicious. Be sure to spoon them over the chicken slices. The lemons will have shriveled up, but they still contain some juice; do not squeeze them, they may squirt.

NUTRITIONAL INFO
859 calories; 59 grams fat; 17 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 24 grams monounsaturated fat; 12 grams polyunsaturated fat; 1 gram carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 0 grams sugars; 74 grams protein; 297 milligrams cholesterol; 859 milligrams sodium

pearlie