Throwback #1: Air Fried Pavakka Bitter Gourd

I just had dinner in my neighborhood mamak store which by the way took 3 long months in renovations, and now they are back in business. 

One of the old-timer waiter was so happy to see me again, and I have to say I feel the same. They have been closed for way too long.

I had my favourite fried vegetable: fried bitter gourd or pavakka and it reminded me of an old blogpost I have written way back in 2016.

Air Fried Pavakka (Bitter Gourd)

I have posted the recipe here and reading it again I think it's time I buy some bitter gourd, slice it up and pop it into my air fryer again. 

A dry crispy plate of pavakka...yummy. 

pearlie

Mushroom Risotto in a Pressure Cooker

 

I am not a very chinese Chinese but Chinese enough to feel oh so satisfied with a good bowl rice. So when I first tried a serving of risotto in an Italian restaurant—I think it was in G3 in Jalan Telawi 3, Bangsar—you should see the contented look in my face. 

So I wanted to try making it and I found this recipe I adapted from Food.com so yummy and good. And it gets done in 7 minutes in a pressure cooker. It's quick and easy. 

Mushroom Risotto in a Pressure Cooker

Ingredients 

4 tablespoons olive oil 

4 tablespoons butter, divided 

1 medium onion, diced 

2 garlic cloves, minced 

250 grams mushrooms, portabella or shiitake, sliced 

1 1⁄2 cups arborio rice 

2 cups chicken or beef stock

1 cup water 

1 -1 1⁄2 cup fresh grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese 

Directions

In a presssure cooker, heat 4tbs olive oil and 2 tbs butter. Add onion and garlic. Saute until translucent. Add mushrooms and rice. Stir until rice is coated with oil. Add stock and water. Cover and cook under high pressure for 7 minutes. Release pressure and add remaining 2 tbs of butter. Stir in Parmesan cheese and serve.

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

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...

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 

Air Fryer BBQ Chicken Wings

I made these again yesterday. The first time I made them, I only happen to have these ingredients on hand and used them for the marinade. I did not even marinate them for long. I simply doused them in sauce with a bit of brown sugar and put them in the air fryer. 

Air Fryer BBQ Chicken Wings
Cook 12 min ∙ Makes 2 servings

INGREDIENTS
4 - 6 chicken wings
1 tbsp oyster sauce
4 tbsp soya sauce
1/2 tbsp brown sugar

DIRECTIONS
1. Marinate chicken in oyster sauce, soya sauce and brown sugar. (You could marinate it for a longer time or even over night. I only did it for about 20 minutes.)
2. Air fry it at 200 degrees C for 12 minutes. If you use a double rack, remove wings from the top rack and air fry the wings on the bottom for another 2 minutes or until they brown nicely.
3. Serve hot. I had them with Nando's Garlic Peri Peri Sauce. Yummy!

I used the like the BBQ wings from these stalls but I soon found them too sweet and I think it is the thick black sauce and honey that give it its distinct taste. 

I eventually gave up liking wings because I can't find good ones. Now I have this. Now I need to stock them in the freezer and pop them in the air fryer whenever I feel like having some. 

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

I haven't properly cooked for the longest time

I used to bake and cook so much. But every since I started my work in consulting, I stopped cooking. That was a really long time ago. 

Recently I had wanted to get back to cooking but I needed something to kick start me on. I heard my colleague talking about her air fryer and I thought hmm, maybe it's time I got caught up in the kitchen scene. Kitchen appliances have gone a long way since. 

I did some research and got myself the Phillips Air Fryer and I'm loving it. Had I known it to be so useful, easy-to-use and versatile, I should have gotten the XL model. 

This was what I made today. It's Luca Manfé's Mother's Meatballs. 

Here's here how to do it using the air fryer:

And here's the recipe: My Mother's Meatballs

It was yummy delicious!

pearlie