Birthday Take Two

The week after TLWs birthday, the market was back to being normal again. I told TLW that I'd make her another fancy meal but this time using Cod! You could almost see the sparkle in TLW's eyes.

Since TLW was taking her mom to the market, I asked her to get the cod as well as some asparagus. She asked what I was going to make and suggested that I make a Steamed Cod with Soya Sauce but I hushed her and told her to just go get the cod as well as some asparagus.

I've mentioned before that Cod is rather expensive but we all so love Cod and it's not often that we indulge. TLW came back with 4 nice and thick slabs of Cod and I couldn't wait to cook it let alone eat it.

Once again, my daughter insisted that I plate the meal nicely and so I pandered to her request. I have to admit that a nicely plated meal does look so much better and somehow it tastes better too!

Birthday Dinner at Gastro Dharmus

Yeah I know I'm late and I'm slacking on this blog but it's not easy finding the time. Anyway, August 10th 2013 was The Lovely Wife's birthday. The day coincided with the wedding of one of my cousins so we couldnt celebrate her birthday. Fortunately, the preceding Thursday and Friday were Public Holidays due to Hari Raya so we decided we would celebrate TLW's birthday on Friday night instead.

Initially I had planned on taking TLW and the kids out for a fancy dinner. Then I thought why not make her a fancy dinner at home instead. After all, unless I took her out to a really swanky restaurant, I would only end up humming and hawing about the food and especially the dessert. By cooking at home, I would save everyone from listening to my hums and haws...

The plan was to make TLW a seafood dish. TLW likes cod and I had grandiose plans of Grilled Cod with Prawns. I would serve it with a side of Pumpkin mash and a citrus honey salad. That was the plans but sometimes the best laid plans go awry.

On Friday morning, the kids and I went shopping for groceries. TLW had some errands she needed to run so that fit us just perfectly. When we reached the market in Bangsar, we ran into the first problem. Being the second day of Hari Raya, the usually active morning market wasnt at its full service. The fishmonger was sorely missing so that meant no Cod. Aaargh! There was no Cod in TMC (the nearby Supermarket) and Village Grocer (another Super) was closed as well. Things were not looking too good. Fortunately the flower lady was around and we bought a whole bunch of flowers for The Lovely Wife. We bumped into my father while buying the flowers and he insisted on paying for them.

'Tis the Season...and plans get changed - again and again!

This Christmas was going to be a bit different - for all of us. For me, personally, it was the first christmas that my grandmother wasn't around. She passed away early in the year. For The Lovely Wife, it was her first Christmas without her father, who passed away in September. With that, traditions and what we normally do on Christmas would be different.

Usually on Christmas Eve, The Lovely Wife, kids and I go to her parents house where we are joined by the other siblings and sometimes TLW's uncle and family for Christmas Eve dinner. That has been the tradition ever since I got married. My parents on the other hand, usually go to my Grandmothers house.

This year, the original plan was to have Christmas Eve dinner at our place with TLW's family and my parents. However, all plans sometimes go awry and TLW got called back to work for something urgent on the 22nd and she reckoned she could possibly be tied up on the 24th as well. So... we decided to call off Christmas Eve dinner and notified the rest of the family to 'go do their own thing.'

Come Christmas Eve however, The Lovely Wife managed to finish off all that she had to do and my parents suggested that we go out for dinner. I suggested to The Lovely Wife that we get her family over after dinner for dessert as I had already made the dessert. We could all then open up our presents as we would normally do on Christmas Eve. That sounded like a good plan.


Late in the afternoon of the 24th, we were out shopping and so on the way home, we decided to stop at a restaurant nearby to make reservations for dinner. Would you believe that at 4pm, they were already fully booked for Christmas Eve dinner? And here we thought that everyone would be at home on Chrissy Eve!

I decided then that rather than go out somewhere I would cook a simple meal. As I said, dessert had already been made the day before so it was just deciding on the main meal. I decided to keep it really simple and just get some bread and toss up a pasta as well as some fried sausages. That would be enough for my parents and the 4 of us.

It was then that The Lovely Wife asked if since I was already cooking, could I make extra and invite her family over as well, rather than just getting them to come for dessert. No Problem!

So...rather than just make one pasta, I made two. TLW's family bought some Pizza too and brought that over so there was plenty. It was really good having everyone over and the meal was enjoyed by all.


So for Christmas Eve Dinner, this was what we had:


Pasta Salmone - Pasta with Smoked Salmon and Portobello Mushrooms in a creamy sauce lightly flavoured with Salmon stock and tomatoes.




Spicy Vegetarian Pasta - Zuchini, Fresh Thai Basil and Red Capsicum tossed in Chilli Flakes



Sausages fried with Basil




Triple layered Chocolate delight - Oreo base layer, baked mousse layer with nuts and topped with a final layer of Chocolate Mousse.

Not forgetting the garlic bread and the bought pizza :)

Dessert didn't quite turn out the way I wanted it to, but it was still a mighty delicious dessert nonetheless. I had wanted the baked layer of the dessert to be softer but it turned out more like a brownie thanks to me adding in too much flour, forgetting that the cocoa would act as a binder as well. (I redid the layer a few days later and I'll post about that soon - I hope!)

We didn't put up the Christmas tree either this year either so the kids decided that our reading light was going to be the Imaginary Christmas Tree...



...and all the presents were placed under this light in lieu of the tree. After all, the tree is usually place in this spot anyway!



A week earlier, I had ordered a new TV for the family as prior to this we were still in the Stone Age with an old CRT TV - thats Cathode Ray Tube TV for those that have never seen a fat old TV Set before. I took the opportunity to take a picture on Christmas Eve night since all the other presents were being opened and this was by far the biggest present! Note the small ribbon that we put on the TV...



Now we have the latest but probably not the greatest, but still a marked improvement to what we used to have! The kids love it and so does The Lovely Wife! I have to admit that watching football(soccer) on the big screen is so much more fun - especially so when I have hooked up the sound to my audio system!

The best part about this dinner was getting the whole family together. Christmas Eve dinner is rarely about the food and more about just getting together with lots of love and laughter!

Merry Christmas Everyone and a Blessed New Year ahead!

Home Made Burgers are the best!

I love my burgers. In fact, although I have to admit to liking the fast food variety at McDonalds and Burger King (Hungry Jacks to the Aussies), nothing quite beats the burgers that I used to enjoy at Deli's and even some Milk Bars as a student in Melbourne. You could have your burger 'custom made' there with just what you wanted. My favourite of course was a 'Burger with the Lot' which simply meant that it was a burger with Everything piled on - bacon, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, cheese and sometimes even an egg! Happy Days indeed!!

I like my burgers thick and meaty too and so just the other day, when we were planning what to make for dinner, I suggested home made burgers.


The Lovely Wife and my princess thought this was a brilliant idea although, not surprisingly, my son wasn't too keen. This is simply because he doesn't particularly like bread. He will eat it, of course, but for some reason doesn't really quite like it - unless it is toasted with jam or butter and sugar.




As I have matured (read - grown older) I am not too fond of cheese in my burgers. I still love bacon in it though and so I bought some bacon together with lettuce and tomatoes. And of course the minced beef! I also used lots of tomato sauce and mustard - you got to have mustard in a burger!

This is what I did to make the patties.

Ingredients
3 cloves garlic-chopped
1 medium onion - chopped
2 tsp basil
2 tsp oregano
black pepper
1 kg mince beef
2 tbsp tomato sauce
splash of Worcestershire sauce
Salt


Method
Sautee the onions, garlic, oregano, basil and black pepper. Add into the mince and mix well together with the tomato sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Season with salt and let stand for a little while.
Make the meat into patties either with your hands or use a burger shaper. I have a Tupperware burger shaper and that explains why my burgers are so nicely shaped!
Place on a baking tray and bake in a 180C oven for about 20 mins. This helps the burgers keep their shape. Continue cooking the burgers in a skillet till done to your taste. I like my burgers Well Done.

To add to the fun, I laid all the ingredients out and let The Lovely Wife and kids assemble their own burgers. I learnt that my little princess takes after me and absolutely enjoys bacon!

I assemble my burgers by starting of with a layer of lettuce on the bun, then some slices of tomato followed by the beef patty. More lettuce goes over the patty and then comes the bacon. Finally, I spread liberal amounts of tomato sauce and mustard over the bacon and cover it with the top half of the bun.



I have to say the Home made burgers are not only tastier but more importantly, you know exactly what is going into it. And that makes that taste even better!!

Beef Kheema

This is one of my all time favourite dishes and also one that has a long history to it. Mum used to make her own version of this when I was younger and she called it a Minced Meat curry. She used to make it with minced beef and diced potatoes and we would all enjoy eating it with rice. The next day, we'd fill slices of bread with the leftover mince curry and polish it off!

Needless to say, when I went off to Uni, this was one of the dishes that I would often cook. I changed the recipe somewhat and added tomatoes as well as frozen mixed vegetables to it whilst omitting potatoes. I used to love this dish so much that almost everytime it was my turn to cook, I would cook this. As a result, my flatmates used to call me the "Mince Meat Man" although they used to enjoy this dish as much as I did!

I remember when I was in my Final year. It was just before mid term exams which meant that we were smack in the middle of Winter with cold, wet nights. We were all busy studying through the night and at about two in the morning, my flatmate walked into my room and annnounced that he was 'feeling hungry' and asked if I was too. We considered driving down to the local 24hr food outlet but decided that we wanted something hot and spicy; something that would 'comfort' us at this late hour when our minds were numb with too much studying. I suggested making some Kheema and my flatmates eyes lit up. He cooked up a large amount of rice while I quickly whipped up my Kheema. We sat in front of the gas fireplace and delighted in the steaming hot rice and spicy hot Kheema. Truly comfort food indeed!


The beauty of this dish is that it is an all-in-one dish with meat and vegetables in it. It's also extremely versatile in that you can eat it with rice, bread or even noodles. In fact, often times, we would eat the leftovers with instant noodles for a quick snack or even a meal the next day.

Kheema is really the Hindi word for Minced Meat but has also become the generic term for a Minced Meat Curry. This is my recipe:

600g Mince Beef or Mutton
300g frozen Mixed Vegetables (Pees, Carrots, Corn)
2 medium-sized Red Capsicums
4 Large Tomatoes - quartered
1 Large Onion
3-4 cloves garlic
a little ginger, chopped finely
6 Cloves
2 - 3 Tbsp Curry Powder
¾ Tbsp Chilli Powder
1 tsp Ground Black Pepper
cooking oil
Salt to taste


Method
Slice onion into thin slices and chop garlic and ginger. Dice Capsicum and thaw frozen vegetables. Lightly fry onions with garlic, ginger, black pepper and cloves until onions are soft.
Add in Curry powder and Chilli powder and fry till fragrant. Be careful not to burn the mix.
Add in tomatoes and mix well. Add in a little water if needed.


Continue cooking till a nice paste is formed.
Add in Mince and cook well.


Add in Capsicum and frozen vegetables
Continue cooking, stirring frequently. Add a cup of water and cover pan. Simmer for a further 10-15 minutes then remove cover, mix well and cook till most of the water is evaporated.



Coincidentally, the topic of the Monthly Mingle this month, hosted by my friend Meeta over at Whats for Lunch Honey is on Comfort Food. Although Kheema is great with plain white rice, it TRULY becomes Comfort Food when served with Yellow Rice or what I call Fools Saffron Rice.

Saffron Rice or Yellow rice is traditionally served instead of white rice for festivals or special occasions. Somehow, the food seems to take on an expensive and exotic twist when Yellow Rice is served.

I call this Fools Saffron Rice because it is an easy way of making fabulous, tasty, yellow rice in a rice cooker that can easily pass off for Saffron Rice – fooling most people!!

3 Cups Rice
4 ½ Cups Water
1-2 Tbsp Butter
2 handfuls Raisins and/or cashew nuts(optional)
6 cloves
2 tsp Turmeric powder


Method

Wash the rice well and place into the rice cooker.
Add the water, butter, cloves, turmeric powder and raisins/nuts (if using)
Mix lightly then turn on the rice cooker.
When rice is cooked, quickly stir the cooked rice to ensure all ingredients are mixed well.



Although I prefer Minced Beef, this dish is just as lovely made with Minced Lamb or even Minced Chicken! (I think my US friends would call Minced Meat as Ground Meat!)

I hope you all like this dish as much as I do!

Baked Dory Fish with Oyster Mushroom

I felt like some fish the other day and to me there is no fish that is easier to make than Dory. I like Dory fillets not only becuase they are easy to cook but also because its the kind of fish I like - with no bones at all!


I decided to keep things very simple this time and just sprinkle a little salt and pepper as well as a little sage and oregano as seasoning. I then baked the fish, wrapped in aluminium foil to seal in the flavours.

I also wanted to try pairing the Dory with Oyster mushrooms so what I did was to stir fry some Oyster Mushrooms with garlic and then placed it on a plate to act as a 'bed' for the fish. This way, I wanted the mushrooms to be eaten together with the fish rather than as a side dish.

Finally, I used the juices that ran out from the fish to make a very light sauce. I just added in about a teaspoon of lemon juice and served this separately. The kids liked the lemon sauce but I dont think it was really needed as the fish paired very nicely with the mushrooms and was delicious on its own.

Stuffed Lumaconi

Michael's birthday this year fell on a Thursday and the previous night we had a conversation that went something like this.

Mike: "Dads, can we go out for dinner tomorrow?"
"Sure! Where would you like to go?"
Mike: "I don't know. I don't know all the names of the places"
"Well, what would you like to eat?"
Mike: "..errr.... Can we have pasta?"
"Tell you what Mike. Instead of going out for Pasta, why don't I make you some pasta instead?"
Mike: "Can you? I like Daddy's pasta better!"
"Sure boy, I'll try and get home a little early and I'll make you dinner. What kind of pasta would you like?"
Mike: "I think I like Daddy's creamy pasta..oh! no, no.. I think the tomatoey pasta is better."
"Why don't I make you a special pasta. Something you've never had before?"
Mike: "Like what Dads?"
"Like a pasta tube filled with meat, spinach and cheese all covered in tomato sauce"
Mike: "Mmmmmm! That sounds yummy" (as he rubbed his tummy)

And so I planned to make my son a Cannelloni dish although I've never made Cannelloni before. The plan was to make the filling out of beef with some spinach thrown in and then some cheese sauce mixed in. I would then bake the whole thing in a tomato based sauce infused with loads of mushrooms.

Since the Lovely Wife had taken the day off from work, I asked her to get me the pasta and the ingredients I would need. Unfortunately, she couldn't find Cannelloni anywhere and so she bought some large shells, otherwise known as Lumaconi. I'd never seen nor used Lumaconi before so a quick Internet search revealed that Lumaconi are also known as Snail Shell pasta. That would make absolute sense since aside from looking very much like snail shells, Lumaca actually means snails.



You'd have gathered by now that I don't have specific recipes for anything and it's all just a smidgen of this and a dash of that but I'll try and reproduce it as accurately as possible! This is quite a large recipe and I managed to get two and a half baking trays worth of Stuffed Lumaconi!

Ingredients:
For the meat filling:
500g Minced Beef
1 large onion
5 cloves garlic
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
250 g chopped spinach (I use fresh spinach that is blanched and then chopped)
200 g cheddar cheese
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
300 g milk
Salt

For the tomato sauce
3 cloves garlic
400 g button mushrooms
3 bay leaves
4 large tomatoes
1 can stewed tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato paste
Black Pepper
Salt


Method:
Fry the garlic and onions till soft. Add in the ground beef and cook well. Add in the cooked chopped spinach. Mix well. Set aside. Make the cheese sauce by melting the butter in a saucepan. Add in the flour cook till smooth. Add in the milk. Bring mixture to the boil. Sauce will thicken. Add in cheese and season with salt. Add cheese sauce into the beef. Set aside.



Slice mushrooms thinly. Sautee garlic and bay leaves till fragrant. Add in mushrooms and cook till juices come out. Add in fresh tomatoes and cook till soft. Add in stewed tomatoes and tomato paste. Simmer till sauce thickens.

Cook the Lumaconi till al dente. Rinse with cool water and drain. Place meat mixture into a piping bag or other piping device and pipe into the cooked shells.



Place a thin layer of sauce on a baking dish and arrange the shells in the dish. Cover the shells with remaining sauce and bake in a preheated 180C oven for about 30 minutes. I covered the dish with some foil as I felt there wasn't enough sauce to completely cover the Lumaconi and I was afraid the pasta would be crusty.



The Lumaconi turned out fantastic. It was very tasty albeit a little bit rich. The combination of flavours was just right and after eating 5 shells, I was stuffed! My mother joined us for dinner that night and she enjoyed the Stuffed Lumaconi too.


As for the birthday boy, he thoroughly enjoyed this 'new pasta'. He managed to finish 6 shells all by himself! A rather mean feat considering how filling this dish was.



I worry sometimes that I might be spoiling the kids as far as food goes coz I never had any 'gourmet' pasta for my sixth birthday! Then again, there's nothing wrong with being exposed to good food at a young age and developing a 'refined palate'....!


I've also submitted this as an entry to Presto Pasta Nights hosted by my lovely friend Ruth over at Onceuponafeast.blogpsot.com. It's my EIGHTH entry Ruth!!

Note: Incidentally, for all you English and grammar purists out there (I'm normally one of them!) my kids call me Dads (Yes. with an 's') intentionally. Sometimes even Mum or Mummy becomes Mums. Don't ask me why - but it's kinda cute, so I let it be!

Meatballs ala Dharm - Not Swedish Meatballs!

My son loves meatballs. Specifically, he likes the Swedish Meatballs served at Ikea. However, he's not too fond of the sauce, the lingonberry jelly nor the
potatoes. He just wants his meatballs.

I've often made meatballs in Bolognese sauce to go with a Spaghetti Bolognese and have also made meatballs in a spicy tomato based sauce. I've also made meatloaf but
to my son's rather advanced palate, sometimes he just wants plain old meatballs.

Who am I to refuse? I also had to prove that my meatballs were just as good, if not better, than those blasted Ikea Swedish Meatballs didn't I?? After all, meatballs don't have to come from Sweden!!

And so I seasoned the meat, I left it to marinate a while and then I pinched and rolled lovely little meatballs. I placed them on a tray and baked them so that they held their shape and then I lightly fried them with very, very little oil and a little tomato sauce - just to give the meatballs a little extra bite and crunch.

This is the recipe:

500g Minced Beef
1 large Onion - finely chopped
3 cloves garlic - finely chopped
2 tbsp Tomato Sauce
Salt
Black Pepper

Method
Mix all the ingredients together and leave to marinate for about 30 minutes. Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Roll the mixture into tight balls and place on baking tray.
Bake for about 30 mins or till lightly browned. Pour the juices together with the meatballs into a pan and stir fry the balls until nicely browned.





That's it. Very easy, very quick and really quite, quite delicious. Both my son and daughter enjoyed the meatballs immensely.

Just to make sure, the next day as we were on the way out, I decided to 'test' out the success of my meatballs.

Me:"Mike, would you like to go to Ikea?"
Michael: "Errm. No thanks Daddy."
Me: "We can have lunch there if you like....you can have their Meatballs"
Michael: "No need Daddy! You're meatballs are much nicer!"

Personally, I thought they were a lot nicer too - not to mention cheaper!!

Baked Pizza Rice

6 hungry mouths to feed. Limited time. Limited ingredients.

This was the dilemna that I was faced with last Saturday (6 Oct). We had all woken up early and my lovely wife had made Waffles for breakfast. It was such a lovely day to just laze around that we didn't even go to the market to do our usual weekly grocery shopping.

I was chilling, waiting for the Focaccia dough to proof while the kids and the wife went out to play at the nearby park. The kids were extra hungry after their run around in the park and then my wife's niece and nephew came over as well for us to 'babysit' them for a while.

"What are we doing for lunch?" I asked my lovely wife.

"Can you whip up some pasta? There's some sausages and chicken breast. And you still have some cream."

"There's some bacon too." I reminded her.

"Or why don't you make a casserole."

Rummaging around in the fridge, I realised there were no vegetables either except for two carrots and some tomatoes (tomatoes qualify as a fruit and not a vegetable but I shan't go into that now....!). Peering into the pantry, I found a can of stewed tomatoes and a light bulb went off in my head.

Chicken, sausages, bacon, carrots, tomatoes, cheese. Sounds like the ingredients for Pizza! Add in some rice, treat it like a casserole and I've got Baked Pizza Rice. And that's exactly what I did! I contemplated going out for mushrooms but I was just too darned lazy.....

Ingredients:
2 cups rice
2 chicken breasts
4-5 sausages
8 slices back bacon
2 large carrots
4 cloves garlic
4 large tomatoes
1 can stewed tomatoes
2 onions
1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Basil
Black Pepper
Salt
3 slices cheddar cheese


Method
Wash and cook the rice. Meanwhile, cut the chicken into cubes. Season with salt and pepper. Slice the sausages into rounds, cut bacon into small pieces and dice carrots. Chop garlic and slice onions. Heat some olive oil and sautee the garlic and onion with some black pepper, oregano and basil (about a tsp each or according to taste). Add in the sausages and cook well then add in bacon and chicken. Mix well until cooked. Add in sliced tomatoes and continue to cook until tomatoes are tender. Add in stewed tomatoes and let simmer until mixture thickens. Season with Salt. Add in rice a little at a time and mix well. You can reduce the amount of rice depending on how much liquid is in your mixture.
Spoon rice mix into a casserole dish and press down until firm. Sprinkle with freshly chopped dill. Cover with cheddar cheese strips or grated cheese and bake in a preheated 190C oven for about 20 mins.




The kids really loved this dish and I must admit it turned out rather delicious.

In my house, I know that I've hit on a winner when my son rubs his tummy and goes "Mmmmmm". This time he went one step further and did an impersonation of a Television advert. Dont ask me where he learnt it but it went something like this (said in a muffled, gruff voice)

"Look at this picture. New! Pizza Rice. Very yummy and good for your health"

That's my son - a riot all by himself! But I can't complain or say anything coz we all know where he gets his craziness from - his Daddy......

Mongolian Tau Foo

My wife and I love food. We love eating and we love trying out new recipes. In fact, food played an important in the early days when we were first dating where most of our evening outings would be spent exploring some new food haunt.

One of my favourite Chinese restaurants is the South Pacific Restaurant, near State Cinema, PJ. It's not one of those fancy Chinese restaurants but more like a hawker shop/coffee shop sort of place. Malayian's know exactly the kind of place I am talking about.

To my foreign blog friends, picture tables laid out on the sidewalk and on the roadside carpark. Picture a clean, tiled floor, red table cloths and plastic chairs. This is your quintessential chinese coffee shop/restaurant where the food is Top Rate and the prices very, very reasonable.

I had been patronising this joint for many years so much so that the 'captain' recognises me and ushers me to my favourite table. What better way to impress a girlfriend eh? And the girlfriend (now wife) was suitably impressed. Needless to say, it takes a lot more to get the wife (formerly easily impressed girlfriend) impressed nowadays...

Anyway, one of the dishes that I have always loved at this Restaurant is the Mongolian Tau Foo (otherwise known as Bean Curd or Tofu)

Don't ask me what is Mongolian about it! Basically, its a dish made with a mix of minced chicken, bean curd, dried chilli, capsicum, black bean sauce and who knows what else. It is truly tasty and both my wife and I enjoyed this dish immensely. I would always look sadly at the empty plate.

One day, after we were married, I suggested to my wife that we should go out for dinner to get some 'Mongolian Taufoo'. She surprised me by saying that rather than go out, why didn't she make it for me?

I was skeptical. I was doubtful. But I thought I would humour her. Now don't get me wrong. My wife was and still is a fabulous cook. But there was no way she could make a Mongolian Taufoo dish. After all, she wasn't the one that could whip up a dish without recipes. She's the kind that likes to follow recipes, quite unlike me. But I was wrong.....

She did it and she did it fine! It was just like the original! I ate it..No! I devoured it!

Nine years later (we celebrated our anniversary on the 26th Sept) my wife still makes a pretty good Mongolian Taufoo. The years have taken its toll though. Her Mongolian Taufoo just isn't the same as it used to be. It's a damned sight Better...!

This is the recipe:

Ingredients
500g minced chicken
Two rolls of Japanase Tau Foo (Egg Beancurd)
2 large onions - sliced
5 dried chillis - cut into large pieces
3 cloves garlic - chopped
1 large tomato - sliced
1 green capsicum
1/4 tsp black bean paste
1/2 tsp plum sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp tomato sauce
2 tbsp chilli garlic sauce
dash of dark soya sauce (thick soya sauce)
3 tbsp water

Method
Slice the tau-foo thinly and then fry until golden - set aside.

Sautee the garlic, onions and chilli. Add tomatoes and cook until a paste forms. Mix all the sauces with the water and add to pan. Cook until the mixture bubbles and reduces somewhat. Add the chicken and mix well until chicken is well cooked.


Add the taufoo and capsicum. Sprinkle with chopped coriander.



Serve with rice. Yummy!

Moussaka

This was the main course that I prepared for the Dinner at Restaurant Dharm last Saturday(8 Sept).

Most of the dishes I make have some history to it - some sordid story involving hungry, drunken flatmates or some girl I was trying to impress in university or just simply a dish I experimented with. More often than not, it involves trying to recreate something my wife tasted elsewhere and raved and ranted about (she can get quite crazy in these rants and raves.....) However, I must admit and give credence to the fact that my cooking repertoire increased substantially, maybe even exponentially, after I got married.

Moussaka is typically a baked casserole with layers of minced lamb and eggplant covered with a layer of bechamel sauce. There are some variations on this theme and I generally like to add layers of potatoes as well. My moussaka doesn't really have a story other than the fact that I decided to make one an evening long, long ago. I looked at various recipes and decided to just whip up a bolognese style sauce, using lamb of course, and use layers of eggplant and potatoes.


This dish can be a little bit oily due in no small amount to the lamb as well as the fact that you are supposed to fry the eggplant and potato slices until they are tender. In an effort to be a litle bit more health conscious, I baked the eggplant slices this time but I think frying them makes them a whole lot more tender and the flavours tend to fuse and meld in better.

This is my recipe for Moussaka:

Meat Sauce
3 large round Eggplants (also known as Aubergines or Brinjals)
1 large onion
4 cloves garlic
800g Minced Lamb
3 potatoes
4 Large Tomatoes
3 Tbsp Tomato paste
2 tsps Black Pepper
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
Oil for frying


Bechamel sauce
500 ml milk
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
2 Slices Cheddar Cheese
Salt
Pepper
Nutmeg Powder

Extra cheddar cheese for topping
Cut eggplant into thin slices. Degorge the eggplant by sprinkling with salt and placing in a colander for about 20 minutes. This removes the excess moisture.
Chop onion and garlic and set aside. Slice tomatoes into thin slices and set aside
Pare potatoes and slice into thin slices. Set aside.
Heat Oil and fry onion, garlic and pepper till fragrant. Add in lamb and cook well until meat is well browned. Add in tomatoes and cook till tomatoes break up. Add tomato paste and some water. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Season with salt. Allow to cool.
Meanwhile, pat eggplants dry. Heat oil in large frying pan. Be careful not to use too much oil as eggplant will soak a lot up. Fry eggplant until tender. Drain
Fry potato slices until tender. Drain
Prepare the Bechamel Sauce
Melt butter in heavy saucepan. Stir in flour and cook the flour in the butter. Add in milk and mix well ensuring that flour is incorporated. Cook on high heat stirring constantly till mixture thickens. Break cheese slices into mixture and stir well. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste

Assembling the Moussaka
Spread some of the meat sauce into a rectangular casserole dish.
Cover with a layer of eggplant slices then potato slices. Cover with another layer of meat sauce. Do this repeatedly finishing with a layer of meat sauce.
Cover top layer with Bechamel sauce. Sprinkle with chopped Cheddar cheese
Bake in 190C Oven for about 20 minutes or till top is lightly browned. Allow to rest for about 10 minutes before serving.

Dinner at Restaurant Dharm

One of my dreams is to open a restaurant. Or maybe a cafe or bistro. Actually, what are the real differences? I think they all mean the same thing but maybe size has something to do with it. I also reckon that they probably mean different things in different parts of the world. But why bother myself with semantics.....

What I have in mind is a small cozy little place somewhere, someplace. The menu won't be too extensive but it will be built around hearty favourites. Ever so often, a new dish would be introduced. Although the food will be delicious and wonderful, what everyone would come to this place somewhere, someplace would be for the Desserts.

I've always felt that the crowning glory to a good meal is an even better dessert. There is nothing quite so bad as being let down by a dessert. Then again, I'm probably biased because I have always loved desserts and consider myself a little bit of a Dessert King. For me, you can hate my cooking but don't ever think of complaining about my desserts! In fact, the greatest insult would be someone offering to bring dessert to a pot-luck or dinner invitation at my house.

My love affair with desserts started at a very young age. In fact, I first started to make desserts and bake before I started to cook. My dessert prowess is in no small way attributed to my Mother, my Aunty Julie and later on in life, my Lovely Wife. But that's an entirely different story for a different time.....

Last Saturday (8 Sept) my lovely wife invited a few of her friends over for dinner. As I always do, I pondered and agonised over what to make. It's even more complicated when you have a blog and you write about everything you cook every weekend......!

But this is exactly what I picture doing in my little restaurant - pondering and agonising over what to make so that the customers are happy. They should be served good food and enjoy their meal over good conversation while having a few good laughs with good friends. I had never had the pleasure of cooking for these friends of ours before and so for them, it was their first time at Restaurant Dharm.

My wife simply adores my Stuffed Mushrooms and although I've posted about it before, I managed to get Portobello Mushrooms this time and of course, since I got my new DSLR, that's always an excuse to take new pictures. My wife makes wonderful Salads and so she was tasked with that.

For the main course, I decided on a Moussaka. Lovely layers of aubergines, potato and minced lamb topped of with a thick Bechamel Sauce.

And finally, dessert. As I said earlier, dessert for me is probably the most important part of the meal. A bad dessert can spoil the whole dinner and if you pardon the pun, leave a bad taste in the mouth. A good dessert on the other hand, is the cream on the puff, the icing on the cake or in this case, the cocoa on the Tiramisu and the Toblerone Ganache on the Almond Chocolate Mousse Cake.

Yeah, I outdid myself and made two desserts. My wife had 'warned' me that her friends loved desserts but I knew that she wanted some Tiramisu while I wanted to try to make the Ikea Daim cake also known as the Almondy Cake. The Ikea Daim cake didnt turn out the way I envisaged it so I turned a potential disaster into a delicious new recipe that I will file as one of my favourites.

I'll post the write ups on each individual recipe together with photos in due course. Maintaining a blog is time consuming but it's still a lot of fun! So keep a look out for updates.

In the meantime, I'm going to return to my daydreams of opening a restaurant and as I do that, a familiar song rings in my ears that plays true to my dreams - Somewhere from West Side Story

There's a place for us,
A time and place for us.
Hold my hand and we're halfway there.
Hold my hand and I'll take you there
Somehow,
Some day,
Somewhere!

Saturday Feast and more fun with the Camera

Since Merdeka was on Friday, we had a long weekend. What better way to enjoy a 3 day weekend than to have a cookup! This time, the lovely wife did the honours while I supported her by clicking away with my new toy.

I've realised that it's far easier to capture nice photos when you can concentrate on taking the photos while someone else is doing the cooking, and not have to worry about wiping your hands before handling the camera or worrying about something burning. Yet, I have to admit, it's not as much fun as multi-tasking! But no complaints here as I really enjoyed playing around with the camera while my lovely wife cooked up a lip-smacking meal.

This is what she made

Spicy Fried Chicken which I have named Angelina's Spicy Fried Chicken

Yau Mak with Garlic and Oyster Sauce

Crispy Ladysfingers or Crispy Okra

My son also reminded her that "yesterday you promised to make me Honeydew and Sago" and so she made that for dessert.

After all her hard work cooking, and mine taking photos, we both relaxed with a nice cool glass of Vodka and Cranberry Juice!

Angelina's Spicy Fried Chicken

I love fried chicken and I reckon the best Fried Chicken I've ever had is the one my Mother-in-Law makes. I guess the saying is true that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree coz the Fried Chicken that my lovely wife makes is super good too.

This time, she decided to spice it up a little more that usual and to also jazz it up with some curry leaves and shallots. It's actually quite amazing how a few fried leaves and shallots can add so much flavour to a dish.

This is her recipe:

Ingredients
1 chicken
2 inches ginger
5 cloves garlic
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
4 tsp Tom Yam paste
handful curry leaves
10 shallots - sliced
Salt

Method
Cut the chicken into medium sized pieces. Pound the ginger with the garlic. Combine with chilli powder, turmeric, tom yam paste and salt to taste. Marinade the chicken in this paste for about 3 hours or preferably overnight. Deep fry until well cooked.
When ready to serve, fry the shallots


and curry leaves


until crispy. Drain the oil and toss with the chicken.

Creamy Lamb and Two Mushroom Linguine

I think I've mentioned before that the easiest way to get me to cook something is for my wife to mention that she ate this "wonderful dish and really enjoyed it." Nothing gets me into the kitchen faster - oh, except if my kiddies ask for something.

And so, my wife came back home with stories of how she had "tremendously enjoyed" her lunch at some place at work. She went on to describe the thin, juicy pieces of lamb in a lovely creamy sauce blah, blah, blah... I just listened, trying hard to fight these feelings of volunteering to make her something similar. I was just about to say "I'm glad you enjoyed your lunch" when she smiled at me demurely and said "I bet you could make it."

So I did. We went over to my Brother-in-laws for dinner last Sunday and I volunteered to bring dinner. Since his two kids and mine all love pasta, I decided to take up my wife's 'challenge' and make the "Oh so lovely, lamb pasta" that she had been raving on and on about..... (no, really she wasn't that bad)

For want of something better to call it, I call it Creamy Lamb and Two Mushroom Linguine. It had to be Linguine, coz that's what she had at the restaurant and if I had used anything else, she may have said that the linguine was better. And we Can't Have That now, can we?

How did I make this? Quite easy really.

Ingredients
400 g lamb
4 lamb sausages
4 cloves garlic - chopped
2 large onions - sliced
Black Pepper
2 bay leaves
2 tsps basil
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
half a leek -sliced thinly into rounds
200g white button mushrooms
200g swiss brown mushrooms
50 ml cream
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
100 ml milk
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 red capsicum
Salt


Method
Cut the lamb into thin strips then season with salt and pepper. Cut the sausages into thick rounds. Cook the lamb in a little oil until nicely browned. Set aside. In the same pan, cook the sausages. Set aside. Using the same pan again, sautee the garlic and onion with the basil, oregano, bay leaves and thyme. Add in more black pepper if you like. Toss in the leek and continue to sautee. Add in the mushrooms and cook till the juices come out. Throw in the lamb, sausages and the cream and mix well together. Allow to simmer.
Meanwhile, make a roux by heating the butter and adding in the flour, stirring well to combine. Add in the milk and cream together with the nutmeg and cook till thickened. Add this into the lamb mixture and mix well. Let simmer to allow flavours to infuse together.
Just before serving, slice the capsicum thinly and stir it into the hot sauce.

I've never used lamb in a creamy pasta dish before but it was certainly delicious. The lamb sausages made a nice difference too. The kids loved it and my wife was pleased. With that lovely twinkle in her eye, she smiled at me and said, "See? I knew you could do it, and even better too!"

This is also the dish I am taking to the Six Month celebration Party for Presto Pasta Nights hosted by Ruth at onceuponafeast
. Congrats Ruth!

I also made a Pavlova for dessert and took along some of the leftover Daring Bakers Challenge - but I cant tell you what that is since its a secret till the 29th of this month - suffice to say it was delicious!

Feeling lazy after Ratatouille - so it's Lamb Chops

We all went to watch Ratatouille this morning! My wife had bought tickets last night and we went to watch the movie at 11am down at KLCC. The kids were excited and even more so to take their sweaters along. Yeap, the air-conditioning can get a tad bit chilly in the cinema. It was a really fun movie and we all had a really good time!
After the movie, the kids were tired and so were we. I was especially tired as I had woken up early to do this months Daring Baker's challenge. Anyway, after the movie, we popped into the Supermarket and I decided to buy some Lamb Shoulder chops for dinner.
The chops were lightly marinated with garlic, ginger, black pepper, some soy soyce and HP sauce and then slowly baked in the oven. I stir fried some mushrooms with loads of garlic as well coz in this household, mushrooms are almost obligatory. Then I quickly stir fried some zuchinnis and made some more Herbed Rice. This time, I added some pine nuts and turmeric to the rice so it turned out slightly nutty and with a nice yellow colour.
So that was the nice simple meal tonight. Not much work but yet a lot of satisfied faces. The kids especially liked thelamb as well as the rice and mushrooms - but we all know how much they like mushrooms!
Maybe, just like in the movie, my kids will one day eat something at a restuarant that will bring back memories of the food their Daddy used to lovingly cook for them........