Thurs, 30th July 2009

Chicken Liver Pate

Foodie Tales return with a whisper by a short post on chicken liver pate long promised to someone very patient! I hope you like it. :-)

A slight attempt was made to decorate the top with trimmed bay leaves, some spring onions, a tiny shallot and sprinkling of dried chilli peppers.

CHANELS

Speechless in awe and wonder........

The insides? That's for another post.......

p.s not mine, not mine *sobs*

Simon

When I read this article about Simon Cowell insisting his gardeners use a spirit level to trim his hedges, I couldn't see more sense than that. Isn't this the most sensible solution to ensuring your crockery, cutlery, placemats and glassware are lined up to absolutely straight lines?

I want one for Christmas to help me set my table in future.

oh, hang on - or can they be used on walls and now hedges only and not on tables?

Fri, 8th May 2009

I set a challenge upon myself to feed 7 people for under $25 (total) today. This was what I made.

2 roast chickens - the usual way.


Roast pumpkin - garlic, parsley, salt, black pepper and some chicken juices. Before.

After.

Roasted Tomatoes. 6 plump Indonesian tomatoes (Oz ones will be take me over the budget) cut into halves.

With multi-layer seasonings - garlic, sea salt & black pepper.

I had a little anchovy garlic olive oil in the fridge and this was the next layer.

Then seasoned home-made breadcrumbs - wholemeal bread whizzed, mixed herbs, garlic, salt & black pepper panfried (no oil) till crispy. Store in airtight tub in the fridge and sprinkle over just about anything - roast poatoes, pasta, chicken, tomatoes, mixed vegs.

Final layer - basil.

Roast till tomatoes are soft and pulpy. Yumms right?

There were lots of potatoes panfried and we have enough left for a salad tomorrow.

Here is the receipt - potatoes $3.00, chicken $6.04, chicken $5.62, tomatoes $2.26, pumpkin $1.29, and spinach $1.20 (which I did not cook). Therefore if you added cooking oil, herbs, gas, electricity, seasonings, umm.... oh, washing liquid for washing up later & labour - that will add another say $5 thereby just meeting my budget of $25.00!

A table shot.

p.s. Wine cost not included.

A few updates.... Sat, 2nd May 2009

I had a small dinner party last night and for the first time, I set up a dining table in our small back garden. It was a lovely night, not too hot or humid and there was a light breeze in the air.

Let's see - what did we have? Going backwards - here is a dessert of bananas cooked with rum and brown sugar, served with vanilla ice-cream.

A big juicy chicken, roasted with garlic, rosemary, thyme, parsley, salt, black pepper, soy sauce and olive oil. I did not even bother to debone as I usually do. The chicken was cut into large parts then simply garnished - the basil is from our garden.

I served the roast chicken with garlic pasta.

A simple salad of lettuce, baby corn, beans, brocolli, peppers and tomatoes.

With a dressing of balsamic vinegar, olive oil, dijon mustard, herbs and chopped shallots.

My prep for the garlic pasta. I used 2 cloves of garlic only.

And the chicken before it went into the oven at approx 5.30 pm.

Some starters - garlic dip and a salmon dip with pita.

Ha - bit of my maxi dress in the right corner - it looks alarmingly like pyjamas..... but super comfy for a casual dinner party with friends.

Friday, 1st May 2009

I bought a tiny piece of beef and created this stirfry with leeks and edamame beans.

This plate of stirfry will make 3 meals for myself - Friday evening, Sat afternoon and there's a bit left in the fridge for another meal!! haha - I am trying, I am trying.

Mon, 27th April 2009

We had UR over for a simple steak dinner. No frills - lovely pieces of ribeye and sirloin, with sea salt, black pepper and olive oil.

Some sauteed mangetouts and simple roasted potatoes/sweet potatoes.

I made a sauce out of pan drippings, some booze and CREAM...

A bottle of red to share amongst 4, nice easy meal. It's a good start to another awful week.

Fri, 17 April 2009

After the Bobby Chinn cooking demo, I went to Z's house for her mum's soto ayam. Again this is one of my favourite dishes.

It's served with shredded chicken, beansprouts, potato patties, spring onions/coriander, chilli paste, fried shallots with a gorgeous tasty soup.

My favourite - potato patties.

We also had some rice cubes to go with the ayam soto - Singapore style.

Thank you, Z, for the food and especially for the chat.

Ultimate Foodies Bloggers Challenge

Congratulations to Senor Pablo and his team for organising & hosting a magnificent event at his residence yesterday and thank you for giving us an arena to showcase our home recipes to everyone there. I look forward to buying the book and already have had a request from a reader who lives in Canada to reserve a copy (and sign!) it for her. *thank you*

(Photo by: Pablo)

And a HUGE thank you to everyone who voted for me!! My two winning dishes..

2nd prize - Roasted Garlic and Anchovy Dip (Photo by: Marul)

9th prize - Chinese Chicken Salad

These two recipes will be published in the Ultimate Foodie Bloggers Cookbook so don't forget to buy the book as soon as it is released - 100% of the proceeds goes to charity.

Congratulations to all the other winners as well and it was a pleasure to meet all of you yesterday... :-)

Chung / Ko Chung / Ba Chang

Mr Ab & A's dear mumsie & Jeed's MIL, gave me & my family some chungs for the forthcoming festival. I took one with me to the office for breakfast this morning. 2 minutes in the microwave with a tiny sprinkling of water over the leaves.....


Have a look! Aren't they lovely? Flavourful glutinous rice, a meaty piece of chicken, dried mushroom, dried prawn, salted egg yolk and chestnut. The portion was absolutely correct too for a not too heavy breakfast. I was so happy as it kept me going until dinner (yes, I am on yet another diet)..

Thank you, Auntie, for always thinking of me. Your Ba Chang is deelicious!!

More from here and here..



It's absolutely halal as well. Isn't this a lovely way to share a traditional Chinese festival?

p.s. A.... my sis and her hub enjoyed the chung too and asked me to thank your mumsie on their behalf..

Healthy Dinner

Here is someone's healthy dinner tonight - mixed grains & rice, with tomatoes and lean chicken. With cucumbers.. and chorizo. Eat with chilli oil.

Roast Chicken, Mashed Potatoes & Sauteed Mushrooms

Last night's dinner for the kids.

Garlic sauteed mushrooms with a little dollop of mayonnaise.

Roast chicken with caramelised onions.


Creamy Mashed Potatoes with Mushrooms, Onions AND cheese. (This is Mark's creation).

Vegs Stir-fry

2 types of vegetables I made recently.

Last week.

Cauliflower, oyster mushrooms, carrot, dried shiitake mushrooms and almonds.

Tonight - mangetout, carrots, red peppers, brocolli, wood's ear, baby corn, almonds and tinned button mushrooms. Stirfry with garlic, light soy, white pepper and oyster sauce.

Basic Batter

For Katia who left a message on the tag board, here is the recipe for a basic batter - you can use this for fish, bananas, yam, pumpkin, squid or prawns, or other kinds of vegetables such as onion, egg plant, etc.

- 2 cups of self raising flour
- 1 teaspoon corn starch
- salt & white pepper
- water
- 3 small ice-cubes
- 1 teaspoon oil

Just mix together until lump free and a thick batter is formed.

If you are rushed for time, omit ice-cubes and oil.

Deep Fried Mushrooms

Deep Fried Mushrooms.

It makes me happy when I get asked to cook a particular something for my kids - Mark asked for this yesterday and luckily, SS had some firm, fresh, and uncompletely unbruised white mushrooms on their shelves. I removed the stalks and fried them separately. They were delicious too! The dip was a simple one of grated garlic, mayonnaise and spring onions. Would have been better if I added tomato & chilli sauce but I did not have them in the fridge.

I used 1.5 tubs of mushrooms (each costing approx $3.20) - it's so cheap and easy to make this at home - restaurants charge up to $8 for a plate of 6 pcs with a tiny salad garnish on the side. The oil can be re-used once so there is not too much wastage.