Nyonya Style Ayam (Chicken) Pongteh

My heritage is of Indonesian Chinese so a lot of Indonesian dishes are very similar to the Malaysian's Nyonya dishes.  One of my old time favourite dishes that my mum used to cook at home is this dish.  According to my hubby who is a Malaysian Chinese, its very similar to Nyonya style Ayam Pongteh.. so its not exactly the same version but its a mixture of chinese indonesian/malaysian version.. haha.. whatever you want to call it .. but give it a try.. its nice!! *grin**..

Nyonya Style Ayam Pongteh - serves 4

Ingredients:
* Half chicken (cut in small parts)
* 4 med size potatoes (cut in big cubes) - preboiled
* 4 full boiled eggs
* 3 cloves of garlic (sliced thinly)
* 3 small red onions (sliced thinly)
* 3 T of Light Soya sauce
*  1 T of Dark Soya sauce
* 4 pcs of cloves
* 1/2 block of chicken maggie
* 1/2 cup of boiled water
* 2 buah keras (kemiri) - blended
* 2 big red chillies ( sliced big)
* 1/2 small tomatoes
* 1 t of sugar
* 1/2 t of white vinegar
* salt / pepper to taste

Method:
1) Fry garlic and onions until browned, add chillies & tomatoes and the buah keras, stir fry for 30seconds.
2) Add chicken pieces and stir fry till half brown, add soya sauce, black soya sauce and the rest of the spices ingredients, add eggs, potatoes, stir fry for about 2 minutes.
3) Add water, cover and let it simmer for 15mins.
4) Served with fried shallots and warm steam rice !!
5) Enjoy :)))

*

Thai style Lamb Salad

It has been so long since my last entry.. and I felt bad for not able to update this blog as regularly as I can.. as Ive been soo busy with my cake orders the last few months..

Anyway, I had a Xmas dinner 2 nights ago and I cooked a few dishes for my close friends, it was an intimate dinner for the six adults and 4 kids.. and I truly enjoyed cooking for my beloved friends.. I did an experimenting with one dish that comes out pretty well, so thought ill share it all with you!

Thai Style Lamb Salad - serves 4-6 pax

Ingredients:

Lamb marinade - for at least 30mins

* 250grams of sliced lamb (very thin)

* 3 T of olive oil

* Cracked Black Pepper

* Salt

* A pinch of Rosemary

* 1/2 teaspoon of Dry Parsley (or fresh)

Sauce:

* 1 T of Thai Fish soya sauce

* 5 T of vinegar

* 1 lime

* 1 T of sugar

* Chopped garlic

* sliced onion

* 1 T of Thai sweet chilly sauce

* Peanuts (crushed)

Salad:

* Shredded Carrots

* Lettuce (finely cute)

* Cucumber (thinly cut)

* Young Mango (optional)

* Mint/corriender leaves (optional)

Method:

1) Marinade the lamb for at least 30mins, then lightly fry it with a little bit of butter/oil

2) Arrange Salad and topped it with the lamb pieces, Pour sauce over just before serving.

tips:

* It would be very nice to have it warm (lamb) but if the time didnt persist, its also nice to serve it cold!

Delicious Low Fat Berries Gone Bananas Smoothies

Who wants a nice healthy low fat breakfast that will not only gives u the morning energy but refreshed ur morning?? *PUT UR HANDS UP IN THE AIR???*

Okay okay.. hahaha.. ill give u all the recipe.. this is super duper easy to make and u can actualy use other fruits to make but besides mango smoothies (a little different to make), this is my 2nd favourite!!

Recipe:

* 2-3 large ripe bananas

* 1/2 punnet of strawberries

* 125ml (normal small serving size) of low fat yogurt - I use the mixed berries

* 1/4 cup of low fat milk

* crash ice

Method:

1) cut bananas and strawberries into small size

2) Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend till smooth

3) Add crash ice and blend for extra 20seconds

4) Served over tall glass with a fresh mint!!! (which i didnt have any then.. hehe..)

5) ENJOY~~~

Cajun Chicken

This is one of the simplest western style meal that I love to make especially when I want to eat a very light but healthy meal (called it 'Diet Meal' watever.. hehe..) .. so yeah.. its great as it is with salad on the side, but its also great to accompany caesar salad or any salad that you like, just throw in some of these cajun chicken and VOILA... instant cafe style meal!!..

So Im going to share with you all how I make my Cajun Chicken.. hope you'll enjoy it as much as me..

Cajun Chicken - Serves 2

Ingredients:

* 400g of Chicken fillet (breast or thigh) - cut in strips or cubes

* Cajun Seasoning

* 1 cloves of minced garlic

* 1 teaspoon of Mustard

* 2 T of Worcestershire sauce ( I used Lea & Perrins brand)

* Ground black pepper

* Salt to taste

* 1T of Olive oil

Method:

1) Fried garlic until slighly browned with the olive oil in a pan

2) Add Chicken pieces, mustard, sauce, and the rest of the ingredients and fried until Chicken become golden brown.

3) Served over salad or on the side..

Spaghetti Bolognaise

Ahh the classic italian pasta dish.. im pretty sure most of you all pretty much knows how to cook it.. but mine is a super simple version (the cheating version) heheheh...but this is a must in every gal's recipe book so that when you have no time to cook but lazy to go out and eat, you can whip up this dish in a mere 20mins time.. (the boiling of pasta took the longest)..
Anyway, without further do, heres my super simple quick spaghetti bolognaise recipe..

Ingredients:

* Prego spaghetti tomato sauce (250ml)
* 2 cloves of garlic (minced)
* 1 big yellow onion (diced)
* 1 teaspoon dry parsley (1-2 stalk of fresh parsley)
* 1 teaspoon mustard sauce
* 1 teaspoon sugar
* 2 T of worcestershire sauce
* 500g of minced beef
* 1 punnet of swiss brown mushroom
* ground black pepper
* 1/4 cup of cheddar cheese
* 1 Tablespoon of butter & 3 Tablespoon of olive oil
* 500g of spaghetti pasta
* 1 Tablespoon of olive oil
* 1 T of salt


Method:
1) To cook the pasta: fill pot with water (1/2 full), add  1T of olive oil & 1 T of salt, cook pasta for about 20mins or until firm (not 100% cook)
2) To cook sauce: add 3T of olive oil and butter into the pan, fry the garlic & onion until golden brown.
3) Add minced beef, fry for about 1 minute, add mustard sauce, worcestershire sauce, and ground pepper. Fry for another 2 minute.
4) Add Prego sauce, let it boil, add sugar & parsley.  Add mushroom, cover and let it cook for about 3 more minutes, add cheese and let it melt through.
5) Served sauce over pasta, sprinkled with dry parsley and parmesan cheese (optional).
6) Bon Appetite...

Fish & Chips (Beer Battered)

Ahaa.. I've finally perfected one of my favourite Aussie meal of all time "FISH & CHIPS"... thanks to Jamie Oliver!!! Eating Fish & Chips at Cicerellos Fremantle was an all time favourite of mine.. and my DB.. and Cicerellos goes long back when it was just a shack deli and cost only AUD$5 for 2 pieces of big barramudi fish, 1 crabstick, 1 pineapple fritters, chips and a can of soft drink.. (15 years ago), but now.. it cost us AUD$12.60 (for just a piece of fish and some chips - serving somehow a lot smaller).. and you have to wait so long in line.. but nevertheless we still go when the cravings sets in..

lucky for me I can make it now.. hehe so yeah no need to rush to Manhattan Fish Market no more when we craved for some fish and chips..

Anyway, heres the recipe for all of you whose a Fish & Chips fans..

FISH & CHIPS (BEER BATTERED)

Ingredients:

* 4 large fillet fish (any type) I use Dory fillet for convenience sake.. but recommend a nice fresh fillet

* 1 cup all purpose flour

* 1 cup beer (any type) but i use Carlsberg (white)

* 1 egg

* a pinch of salt

Method:

1) Mix the flour, beer, egg and salt in mixing bowl and beat lightly

2) Deep Fish inside and deep fry till golden brown

3) Taaa Daaa.. drain in paper towel for excess oil and ready to serve it with some tartare sauce and lemon wedges..

My version of Waldorf Salad

I love to eat salad and I remember back in High School during cooking lesson in class, we made Waldorf salad.. actually its been ages since I had these (last time was in one of the restaurant at KLCC, Malaysia - few years ago).. so yeah dunno why suddenly wanted to make this..

Since I didnt have any grapes, I substituted it with raisins and instead of mayonnaise, I made my salad to be lighter by using the pre-made herb vinaigrette salad sauce and since I loved to eat vegetable, I added a lot of other vegetable..

Anyway, heres is my version of the recipe:-

My Version of WALDORF Salad - serves 6 as sides

Ingredients:

* 1 whole apples - peeled, cored and chopped into cubes
* 1 tablespoon lemon juice
* 1/2 cups raisins
* 2 stalks celery, chopped
* Mixed lettuce leaf (optional)
* 1/2 Cucumber (sliced)
* 1 whole carrot - grated
* 1 whole tomato - sliced
* 2 tablespoons plain low fat yogurt
* 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
* Herbs Vinaigrette salad sauce



Method:

* Cut all the ingredients as instructed and tossed in a bowl, mixed with the lemon juice, salad sauce and yogurt just before serving..