Sarah's BBQ part One - Barbecued Prawns

I had mentioned previously that my little princess Sarah wanted a BBQ and this is the first of many posts to come concerning that BBQ!

Not only did she plan the menu, but she also decided she was going to invite her maternal grandparents as well as her uncle, aunt and cousins (on my wifes' side). Since my dad was away, I got my mom to come along too. So yes, quite a few people to cater for - and as usual, we made more than enough food for an army. Not quite, but you get the idea...

Anyway, first item on the menu was Prawns. I had brought back a load of lovely big, huge prawns from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah and I marinated them as such:

2 kg large prawns
2-3 inches ginger - pounded
1/8 cup olive oil
1 tsp turmeric
3 tsp Tabasco sauce
1 tsp honey
4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Black Pepper

Shell and devein prawns but leave tails intact. Mix all the ingredients together and allow to marinade.



Before grilling them on the BBQ, we needed to set up the BBQ and the kids were more than happy to help me out there.



Getting the fire going was quite a chore and suffice to say it involved burning a wooden stool that I had stupidly used as a base since the legs on the BBQ set were too short. One would think that I had more brains...

Nonetheless, the prawns were rather delicious. My son, who claimed that he "only likes prawns a little bit", promptly devoured more than 10 and then proceeded to proclaim that "actually I like prawns."




The Lovely Wife had a few prawns too although she has an allergy to shellfish. There's just something rather spectacular about BBQed prawns...

Sarah wants a Barbecue and its nothing to do with Palin!

Mention Sarah these days and you automatically associate it with Sarah Palin - the US VP Candidate and maybe even US VP come November 4th. Its amazing isnt it how the whole world focuses on US Politics... but I wont get into my political genre right now and I'll just stick to food!

So...My little princess - Sarah - has been asking for a BBQ for some time now. Since this weekend is a long weekend thanks to Deepavali, we decided to throw a BBQ tonight.

She's all excited about it and has prepared a list of what she wants. Its rather a substantial list too and also includes some of Michael's favourites. This is really going to involve a lot of firsts and will also be a team effort between The Lovely Wife and I. We also plan to get the kids involved as much as we can.

So this is the plan as per Sarah's list...

Satay - home made this time!
Kuah Kacang (Peanut Sauce for the satay)- Home made too. Hope it turns out good.
Ketupat/Nasi Himpit - going the instant route with prepacked goods.
BBQ Chicken Wings
Sausages
Bacon
Mashed Potatoes
Garlic Bread
Meringue with Fruits and Pink Cream

Now, since I just returned from Sabah and bought some lovely seafood there, I've added this to the menu:

BBQ Prawns
Spicy Scallops

So stay tuned for more on Sarah's Barbecue...

In the meantime, to all my Hindu friends, have a Blessed and Happy Deepavali!

Chicken ala Queen or is that Chicken ala Princess

Yes, you're right. Your eyes do not deceive you. The title DOES say Chicken ala Queen when by right it should be Chicken ala King. However, there IS a reason for it just like most times there IS a method to my madness.

You see, I dont like to discriminate by virtue of gender so why the heck should a King get credit for a dish when in all likelihood, it would have been the Queen that prepared it. Well actually, in all likelihood the kitchen damsels would have prepared it but thats another argument altogether.

I did a search for the
history of Chicken ala King and if you are interested too, well just click on the link.



I first made Chicken Ala King when I was in Uni. You see, during my first two University years, my flatmates were both Malaysian Indians and invariably we ended up eating Curries and Chinese almost every night. Eating out was expensive and I used to long for some western dishes. I remembered my Mother making a Creamy Chicken dish using Cream of Chicken soup as the base. Thats what I did then too. I chopped up some chicken, added in a bag of frozen peas, corn and carrots and dumped in a can of Cream of Chicken soup to get a very simple yet satisying Chicken Ala King.


That was then though and nowadays I frown at using canned soups as the base for anything. This time I made my own creamy base instead and I must say the results were far, far better. Instead of the usual corn, carrots and peas, I found a pack of imported frozen veges that consisted of Turnips, Leek, Carrots and Long Beans. Much, much nicer!

This is what I did.

300 gm Boneless Chicken Breast
200 gm Fresh Button Mushrooms
1 Large Onion
2 Potatoes
1 Tbsp Oil
1 Packet Frozen Vegetables (Turnip, Leek, Carrots, Long Beans)
200 ml cream
Black Pepper
Salt
Paprika Powder
oregano
thyme

Method:
Cut the chicken into bit size pieces. Cut the mushrooms into halves. Dice onions and potatoes. Heat a little oil and fry the onions with a litle pepper, oregano and thyme. Cook the chicken until cooked through. Add in the mushrooms and cook till juices come out, then add the potatoes and continue cooking. Add in the cream together with the vegetables and season with salt. Allow to simmer till potatoes are soft and mixture thickens. Sprinkle on some paprika and serve with rice.



Very satisfying indeed and the reason for the title? Well, my little princess loved this dish and declared it 'very yummy'. So, since my princess loves it, and for the sake of equal opportunity, lets just call this dish Chicken ala Princess.

There doesnt have to be any better reason than that now, does there...?

Busy with work...

Just wanted to say that I am rather busy with work this week and wont have the time to update my blog.
Hope to be back blogging real soon though...

Meatballs again - this time with sauce. I'm not letting Ikea beat me you see!

I've been away on work for a while and havent been able to update my blog. I could have posted on auto-scheduling but I was just plain lazy. Anyway.

I know that I mentioned previously that my son likes the meatballs at Ikea. I also know that I mentioned that he prefers just the meatballs without the sauce or lingonberry jam that Ikea serves. You must realise though that he said this about a year ago and I guess that times change and tastes change too.

Now he says that he also likes the meatballs with sauce -just like how they serve it at Ikea. Ditto said my daugther.

My son explained that "Daddy's meatballs are nice but the one's from Ikea are quite nice too."

My daughter went on to say, "I like the... that kind of sauce... you know at Ikea... they have that light brown kind of creamy sauce."

Can you see the the smoke coming out of my ears? Like in the cartoons? And can you hear the sound of the train blowing its horn as the smoke came out of my ears??!!

I couldn't very well let my children grow up thinking that Ikea's meatballs are better than mine. No way! I had to try to make this blasted sauce that they seemed to like so much. I admit, I tried making a brown sauce once by cooking a roux till it became brown - but no, it wasnt well received.

This time, I reckoned on making a sauce out of the drippings. You see, I bake my meatballs before taking them out and giving them a quick 'toast' in a hot pan. Baking the meatballs yields a lot of drippings and this would be precisely what would give the sauce a lovely flavour.

I reduced the drippings over high heat for a while and then added in a tbsp of flour to make a roux. Then I added in some milk and cooked it till it thickened up slightly, added in some Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper and I had a lovely sauce that I reckoned would put the Ikea sauce to shame!

The kids had to give their seal of approval though and I waited with almost bated breath as they dipped their meatballs into the sauce and then ate them. My son declared the meatballs and sauce BETTER than Ikea while my daughter gave me a 10 out of 10 for both - she's into scoring my meals nowadays! They both liked the sauce so much that they added it together with the Mushroom and Spinach Pasta I had cooked.



I'm always happy when my Children enjoy a good homecooked meal but this time I got an extra bit of satisfaction knowing that I had beaten Ikea at their own meatballs!!!

Pasta Aglio Olio i Funghi e Spinaci

I think I'm getting into the 'romance' of naming my pasta dishes by their Italian names. Only problem is, I'm not sure if they are grammatically correct and I run the risk of an Italian coming to my house and saying "Ciò è rifiuti. Non state parlando Italiano! (This is Rubbish. You are not speaking Italian!) while he takes of his gloves and slaps my face twice. Or is that what the French do?

The kids were feeling a little under the weather with both having the flu and fever. This didnt diminish their appetite however and they both asked for pasta. I decided to keep it simple but yet very nutritious by making a simple Aglio Olio but fortified with Mushrooms, Spinach and a little chilli for both flavour and colour.
This is what I did:

Ingredients
8 cloves garlic
1 small onion
200g large Swiss Brown Mushrooms
1 bunch spinach
2 chillies
2 tsp oregano
Black Pepper
Salt
Olive Oil

Method
Chop Onion, Garlic and Chilli. Fry with black pepper and oregano in Olive Oil till soft. Add in the mushrooms and cook till juices come out. Blanch the spinach and chop finely. Then add into the mixture. Season with a little salt. Toss together with cooked pasta.

I just love how simple this dish is. I think sometimes with Pasta, it is the simplicity that makes it really special.



I also made some meatballs that went really well with this pasta but thats for another time and another post! In the meantime, this is also my entry for Presto Pasta Nights hosted by (and also the brainchild of) my friend Ruth at Once Upon A Feast

I know I dont speak Italian but I do know what Bellissimo means and in my mind, this pasta dish is certainly that. Bellissimo!