Tues, 29th May 2007

I made 3 portions of this for my kids' meals today. It is a very, very simple traditional Hakka dish, and it's the mil's recipe.

All you have to do is steam a chicken the night before, when it is cooked, very lightly dust some salt over the chicken. Cover and put it in the fridge. Strain the chicken stock and chill.
The next day, debone the chicken and put the slices into a serving dish. Add the chicken stock which by now would have turned into a gelatinous mass. Add a few drops of dark soy. Top with golden fried garlic and steam for 10 minutes. I steamed a portion so we can see what it looks like.

And here is a pic of it before steaming, and you can see the gelatin chicken stock blobs.

This is an incredibly easy and simple dish made from just a few humble ingredients. All the taste comes from salt, chicken stock, dark soy and fried garlic. Try it, you will be quite surprised by the subtle tastes of each ingredient all complementing one another.

All the helper has to do later is cook the vegs and that's it. (I feel a rant coming on so I better go to work now).

Sun, 27th May 2007

Kids' dinner.

Butterfly chops with onions with few drops of dark soy and oyster sauce.

And spinach.

Sunday, 27th May 2007

My dinner. I made a tuna/garbanzo beans/tomato/onion salad with a home made dressing for myself (grain mustard, balsamic vinegar, grated raw garlic, dried salad herbs, olive oil, salt and black pepper).

The salad.

The Dressing.

And 2 ears of the fattest, burstiest, sweetest corn on the cob, lightly steamed.

Very very filling and satisfying.

Mon, 28th May 2007

Woke early and made lunch for the kids - it's Chicken and Fresh White Mushrooms with Bacon in a Creamy Sauce. To be served over pasta.

Sat, 26th May 2007

More roast lamb pictures (closeups).

Promoting the Australian meat industry.

Now I better drag myself into the shower and head towards the padang for the Walkathon (my cosy, comfy bed looks very inviting)....

Sat, 26th May 2007

Lazy, wet afternoon. Mark watching sports on TV/reading on the bed, Mum on the net (but with twinges of guilt for missing yoga at a time when I most need to), and Hazel in Virasana playing zoo with her duplo animals and a basin of water behind me.

And now in half Padmasana

Sat, 26th May 2007

After the heavy roast lunch, my kids had a simple dinner that evening.

Mackerel cutlets with dark sweet soy

and long beans with garlic.

Sat, 26th May 2007

My kids had roast lamb for lunch today with mashed potatoes. I bought a small chilled leg from SS last Sunday. I thought it would make a nice little roast for the 3 of us. It costs $17.50. Marinate the leg for 3 hours with salt, black pepper, garlic, rosemary and olive oil and a dash of light soy. Roast for approx 1.5 hours and let it sit for half an hour before slicing.

I added some sliced onions into the pan. They caramelised beautifully and turned incredibly sweet at the end of roasting time.

I didn't bother to make a gravy. The pan juices were delicious.

The lamb was wonderfully tender and so sweet with none of the heavy 'lamb' aftertaste which can be quite off-putting.

The meat was medium done with a slight pink centre.

The mash potatoes were easy peasy too - just boil and drain some potatoes, mash with salt & white pepper, milk and butter. Dot butter on surface.

Here's Hazel's portion.

And Mark's hefty portion (don't worry - they don't eat like this everyday - during the week, they eat simple food such as pastas, steamed eggs, chicken, tofu, or fish).

p.s Except for the tiny 2 slices I had to check and adjust flavours, I didn't eat any as I am still on a crazy diet so this was my lunch.

Friday, 25th May 2007

On diet and miserable.

Why am I on yet another diet again? Because I WANT I WANT to squeeze my way into this pair of jeans. Antik Denim size 30. Bought more than a year ago.

And because I used to be a UK 10 and US 6 (at a particularly crazy time, I was US 4 - ).... not that long ago.
I have proof.

What looks like a carrier bag is actually a tiny dress - worn twice.

Whistles Size 10 burnt velvet skirt and Gap size 6 denim skirt with embroidered butterflies.

I don't want to be Amy Winehouse thin but being UK12 would be great.... On the other hand, Kelly Clarkson looks great in this picture. Love her confidence.

I wonder if I should ask H to send out a pair of this. I'm off to bed before I lose my mind completely.

Thurs, 24th May 2007

Yes, it's absolutely true - thank you Ranoadidas and Innerspace.

Weds, 22nd May 2007

Tonight I decided to make steak sandwiches for my kids' dinner.

I have 2 quite lovely slabs of sirloin which I bought from SS on Sunday which had been sitting in the freezer.

I defrosted them slightly and while they still had some ice in them and thus was still quite firm, I not so deftly sliced each steak into 3 thin pieces. I marinated them with salt & coarsely ground black pepper (realised I had run out so I ground a bit more from whole black peppercorns),

dried rosemary and garlic. ( I then ran off to watch the finale of American Idol - go, Jordin, go girl, you will be crowned tomorrow, just you wait and see)!

Oh and a drizzle of olive oil.

The pics of the steaks on the grill pan were all absolute rubbish (like this):

but here is a pic when all the steak slices have all been grilled slightly - not too well done - you want them to be slightly pink and bursting with juices and flavour but with the nice charred edges.

(those dreaded lines AGAIN!!)

One more pic.

After the show, I went into the kitchen and assembled the rest of the ingredients:

Saute onions with a bit of sugar, salt & olive oil till the edges are brown, cut cucumbers and tomatoes, some mayonnaise & tomato sauce.

I really like the look of the bread rolls which I bought from Top Bake Bakery in Kiarong (was in the area returning some books to CfBT this afternoon) - the rolls were very pillowy and the surface turned slightly crunchy on toasting. It was slightly sweet but the sweetness balanced well with the salted butter. It does not have as much flavour and texture as 'designer' breads but the kids really liked them.

After trimming off the sinewy bits from the cooked meat, I let them assemble their own sandwiches. Here's Hazel with her first sandwich (no onions or tomatoes). A double decker. Her second helping was a single.

Mark's first helping.

Another pic.

The pic of his second helping was what I reckon is the best photo so I've put it on top.

And my dinner?

Two helpings of 'snake' longbeans - named after their twisty twirly shapes.