Snow Peas and Mushrooms

Taking a break from the Sarah's BBQ series, I thought I'd post a quick and tasty dish that I made some time ago. The Lovely Wife loves snow peas and you also know how much we love mushrooms. So I reckoned that it would be a good idea to combine the two and make this dish.



It's really so simple that a recipe isnt really required. This is what I did anyway:

5 cloves garlic
200g snow peas
200g swiss brown mushrooms
2 red chillis
1 tbsp Oyster sauce - or more to taste

Chop garlic and sautee lightly. Add in brown mushrooms and cook till tender. Thrown in the snow peas and add in some oyster sauce to taste. Finally stir in the red chillies and season with a little salt if needed.




How simple can that be? It's a great dish to throw together quickly and with a minimum of fuss. Best thing is, it tastes delicious!

Sarah's BBQ Part Two - Mashed Potatoes

Mashed Potatoes to me are a MUST at any Barbecue. The Lovely Wife wanted to make a Potato Salad but I insisted on Mash simply because my little princess wanted Mashed Potatoes, so how could I refuse?
This was a little last minute as I had forgotten about the potatoes as I was busy with starting the BBQ and all sorts of other tasks. But I guess that's the beauty of Mashed Potatoes. As long as you have already boiled the potatoes, the rest is dead easy!

I dont think a recipe is required for mashed potatoes, but this is what I did:

8 potatoes - peeled, cut into quarters and boiled till soft
Generous Glob of Mayonnaise
Glob of soft Butter
Dash of Salt and Pepper
Spash of milk
Spring Onions for garnish

See? Nothing easier. Just mash all the ingredients together, tasting every now and again and you have a lovely creamy dish of mashed potatoes. Dress it up a little with some chopped Spring Onions for a 'wow' factor!




My little princess enjoyed the mash and that was all it needed to vindicate me from the Potato Salad that the Lovely Wife kept insisting would be much better. Sometimes, not often, but sometimes, Daddy really Does know best!

Chilli con Carne and more Lavash

You know, I've always thought it strange that Chilli is a meat dish coz over here, when we say chilli, we mean the hot, spicy, burn your mouth off chilli pepper that is actually the fruit of plants from the genus capsicum. I did study Agricultural Science in secondary school so I do know what I'm talking about. (couldn't resist showing off... sorry!).

Anyway, back to Chilli con Carne. Apparently, the name comes from the Spanish Chile con Carne which means Peppers with Meat. If I was naming it, I'd have named it Meat with Peppers coz there's more meat in it than peppers right? Right?? RIGHT????

Anyway, I've always loved this dish. Heck, anything with minced beef in it has got to be good, especially when you add in tomatoes, beans and a little bit of spice! I made two measures of Lavash to go with this Chilli while the Chilli itself was made by The Lovely Wife. After my Bond story, I think she had the urge to play Tiffany Case, to my Bond...


We've both wanted to make Chilli con Carne for the longest time but she beat me to it. Her Chilli is based on the recipe from the Usbourne Little Children's Cookbook - one that we bought the kids to use but it looks like the parents are using it too!! She also had a look at a Chilli Recipe used by Chef Wan as well. This is what she did:

1 Onion
2 gloves garlic
500g minced beef
3 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 can red kidney beans - strained
1 can stewed tomaotes
2 fresh tomatoes - chopped
t Tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp brown sugar
Oregano
Basil
Black Pepper
Salt

Method
Dice onions and garlic and fry gently until tender. Add in the beef and cook until nicely browned. Stir in the chilli powder, curry powder and cumin and then add the strained kidney beans. Add in the tomatoes, sugar and herbs and black pepper and mix well. Allow to simmer until thick, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.



The Chilli was really tasty and it went really, really well with the Lavash as an appetiser. We also served it with some corn chips. But I suppose the burninq question is, How did Bond like it??

Bond wiped the sides of his lips with the napkin. Gazing deeply into Tiffany's eyes, he let his gaze fall to her bosom and then down to her long legs. He let out a deep sigh before he stood up.

"Well, I hate to eat and run Tiffany, but duty calls you know." said Bond...

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...?