This is a dish from one of my many lazy day meals. Trying to relieve myself from the kitchen to concentrate on some more important issues like my daughter’s desire to re-model her room. It’s a great step for a 5 year old to migrate into her own room without making a fuss. Or could it be my son, giving her sleepless nights when he wakes up for his feed in the middle of the night. Well the truth is still yet to be revealed.

Deciding on the colour of the walls alone is a pretty difficult task for a little girl. Pink or Purple??? Purple or Pink?? Mom! I want both. Anyway before I get carried away … that’s why I have ‘one pot’ meals.

serves 3

Chicken Stock Ingredients

1/2 free range chicken

1 piece of old ginger (2″) - smashed
5 cloves garlic (with skin intact, washed)

2 litres filtered water

Ingredients for the one pot

15 ‘middle range’ sea prawns (deveined, shells removed leaving the tail)

wood fungus (soaked, hard core removed, cut into bite-size pieces)
2 spring onions (cut into 2″ length)

1 carrots (roughly cut)

2 firm tofu (cubed)

2 pac enoki mushrooms (lower ends removed)

9 tofu puffs (cut into 2 and blanche)

200 gm baby spinach (washed and plucked into short sprigs)

200 gm chinese cabbage (torn into bite size pieces)

30 gm glass noodles

sea salt

garlic oil

Method

1. Prepared the chicken stock by boiling in a stock pot over low heat for 1 hour. Strain the stock into a claypot. Place claypot on the heat.
2. Put in the carrots, tofu puffs, wood fungus, tofu, prawns, chinese cabbage, enoki, spring onions, baby spinach and glass noodles. Simmer for 5 minutes. Try to put these ingredients in this order so that the root vegetable cooks for a longer period of time and the prawns does not over cook.
3. Add sea salt to taste and 2 tablespoons of garlic oil to garnish.

This is the time of the year again where dates are in abundance. With the ‘Hari Raya’ just round the corner, what better time to make full use of these lovely fruits. I noticed that there are a lot of variety of dates on the shelves and got myself in a bit of a mess just deciding on what type to choose. I wanted the ‘not so sweet’ ones but ended up getting just that. Could not bring myself to eat them whole, just terribly sweet so I decided to put them in a cake.

A simple buttercake recipe will do just fine.

Ingredients

250 gm unsalted butter (softened)

90 gm castor sugar

1 sachet vanilla sugar (10 gm)

400 gm all-purpose flour (sieved)

1 tsp baking powder (add into the all-purpose flour)

a pinch of salt (add into the all-purpose flour)

5 large eggs (room temperature)

180 ml fresh milk

arabian dates (pitted and cut into small chunks)

Method

1. Preheat healsio super bake 1 at 180 degree celsius, 50 minutes. (Normal oven preheat at 180 degree celsius)
2. Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
3. Add in flour and eggs alternately leaving a small amount of flour to be added after the milk. Add milk slowly and the remaining flour. Batter should be light and runny.
4. Put in the chopped dates and stir evenly. Pour batter into a prepared 9″ x 6″ baking tin and press start to bake for 50 minutes. Cover with an aluminium foil the last 10 minutes if the top starts to brown too quickly.
5. Turn cake out onto a wire rack to cool before slicing to serve with a cup of steaming hot black coffee.

vanilla sugar (optional)

Collar steaks are my absolute favourite part when it comes to making pork chops. I tend to like my chops with a little more bite and slightly chewy. For those of you who prefer other parts, it is perfectly fine. Never think in a box when cooking. Be adventures! I love kitchen adventures. When it turns out well, rejoice! but if it fails ‘there will always be a better next time.’ Hahaha! Even I have my share of kitchen mishaps, yes even I……

Ingredients

(serves 2)

4 collar steaks

2 Tbsp HP sauce

2 Tbsp Lea & Perrin Sauce

sea salt

freshly crushed black pepper

grapeseed oil

butter

4 chicken livers

brandy

sprigs of chinese parsley (garnishing)

Method

1. Bruise the chops with a meat tenderiser. Season them with HP sauce, salt and pepper.
2. Heat up a large ionised non-stick pan, drizzle in some grapeseed oil. Slowly place the chops onto the heated pan. Sear for 2 minutes each side. Splash in some Lea & Perrin sauce.
3. Add a little hot water into the pan and let the chops simmer for a while till slightly tender. Turning to ensure both sides of the chops are properly cooked and not burnt. Chops should always be moist while simmering.
4. Place chops on the serving plates and set aside while you proceed to make the sauce.
5. Put a little butter and some grapeseed oil into a small saucepan. Put in the chicken livers. Sear all sides till completely cooked. Remove from heat and mash them up with a fork.
6. Scrap the mashed livers back into the saucepan and add some brandy, sea salt and black pepper. Stir continuously until it turns into a runny paste texture. Cut off heat and spoon over the chops. Garnish with a sprig of chinese parsley and serve immediately.

I was experimenting with marination when I suddenly got a brillant idea. Why not marinade some meat with a can of anchovies? Thus the ‘Anchovies Lamb Ribs’ was born. The anchovies actually give the roast lamb ribs a lot of depth in taste and also in aroma. I seriously feel that this is going to be one of my signature dishes. You see, I have been secretly rating my own recipes and I am really proud of this one. So, better try it and you shall not regret.

Ingredients

1 kg lamb ribs (approx. 11 - 12 rib bones, 5 - 6 inches in length each)

1 can of crown prince flat anchovies in olive oil

a dash of Lea & Perrin Sauce (or worchestershire sauce) or even both

2 Tbsp smoked hickory sauce

freshly ground pepper

2 sprigs of rosemary

olive oil

sea salt to taste

Method

1. Place anchovies in a bowl including its oil, the 3 sauces and black pepper. Mash them up into a paste.
2. Marinate the ribs with the anchovies paste in a freezer bag. Leave in the fridge overnight.
3. Ribs leave at room temperature before roasting. Crush rosemary leaves onto the ribs, sprinkle a little sea salt and a dash of olive oil.
4. Super Roast at 200 degree celsius for 30 minutes for well done. 20 minutes for medium.
5. Take out ribs and let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing to serve.

Finally, yes …. I am on vacation! so guess what! I have time to romance my blog. It is always a pure joy for me to click away on the keyboard and someone on the receiving end gets to cook something heart-warmingly wholesome for their family. Since my son has been enjoying his pumpkin puree or pumpkin ala rice cereal, there is still a lot of pumpkin left so we have also been eating pumpkin ala this and that. I have a very tasty pumpkin recipe that I want to share with you. I can just indulge in this dish just like some people with mashed potatoes. This recipe calls for very few ingredients.

Ingredients

700 - 800gm Japanese pumpkin or butternut

3 large fresh red chili

3 bird eye chili

50gm dried shrimps (hae bee)

olive oil

dark soya sauce

sea salt

Method

1. Cut pumpkin into 2, remove seeds. Cut into thick slices and remove the hard skin. Cut the pumpkin into 3cm cubes.
2. Remove seeds from the chilis and pound using a mortar and pestle. Scoop out and set aside.
3. Soak the dried shrimps for 10 minutes, drain and pound like the above.
4. Heat up the wok and drizzle in a generous amount of olive oil. Put in all the pounded ingredients and stir till fragrant.
5. Add pumpkin cubes and continue to fry. Add a little water if its too dry. Lower heat and continue to stir till pumpkin in soft and has absorbed all the flavours of this dish.
6. A dash of dark soya sauce for colouring and sea salt to taste.