Creamy Butternut Squash Soup with Chilli

I'm celebrating year 2011 with warm and hearthy soup for the coming cold wintery days that caught us by surprise with sudden snowfall on 26, November, 2010! It was expected to be colder and harsher winter in the EU but the sudden snow fall on that day caused much inconveniences and traffic woes that lasted for more than a week! The freezing gloomy days ahead called out for comfort food desperately! All I could think of was a hearty, filling and delicious meal where everyone can dug in as much as they like to their heart's content :-D So, the family agreed on... soup. Not just any soup but Pumpkin Soup with a little twist in the finalé.

This soup is one of my family's favourite whenever we can find quality pumpkins in season and one thing for sure they keep longer unrefrigerated unlike other types of squashes or marrows of the same genus. My favourite choices are butternut and kabocha. It's an easy recipe that is suitable for vegetarian as well. You can also omit the crème fraîche and it tasted just as creamy but a little of it goes a long way. In my family, there is no compromising of replacing crème fraîche with other sort of cream replacement! Only thing permitted is evaporated milk for coconut milk and that IF I don't have any in the pantry :-P

In this recipe, I tried roasting the butternut chunks instead of cooking them straight in the pot like I usually did (and like most soup recipes I tried before). I must say that roasting brings out the sweetness in butternut squash and gave this soup a velvety texture with nuttiness flavour I loved so much. I definitely roast my pumpkin in future not only for soup but in purée for pies and desserts! To round it up... I added some chopped chillies to boost my immune system! Actually, I was craving for something really hot with lots of spiciness and only Kimchi came to my mind but I didn't want the whole apartment screamed to open the windows and doors for fresh air with minus degree and snowed outside! Well, I have to settle for plain chillies :-P

Creamy Butternut Squash Soup with Chilli

Serves 4-6 portions

1 butternut squash , ± 800 g - 1kg, peeled and deseeded

30 ml Olive Oil

15 g Butter

2 Yellow Onions - medium size, diced

1 clove Garlic, thinly sliced

2 Red Chillies, deseeded and finely chopped

850 ml Vegetable stock/Chicken Stock (boiled hot)

60 ml Crème Fraîche, plus more to serve

Method:

1. Heat oven to 200 ºC/180 C fan.

2. Cut the squash into 4 cm cubes, then toss in a large roasting pan with half the olive oil. Roast for 30 mins, turning once during cooking, until golden and soft.

3. While the squash cooks, melt the butter with the remaining oil in a large pot, then add the onions, garlic and ¾ of the chilli. Cover and cook on a very low heat for 15-20 mins until the onions are completely soft.

4. Tip the squash into the pan, add the stock and crème fraîche, then whizz with a stick blender until smooth. Reheat gently and season to taste. Serve the soup in bowls with crème fraîche and garnish with remaining chopped chilli.

Note:

If you feel fresh chilli is too strong, you can use chilli flakes instead.

*For Non-vegetarian version, you can add in some chopped Chorizo (my favourite is 'Extra Spicy' ) and omit the chillies if you want :-) If you use chopped Chorizo and add it in Step 3, beware your soup will have a layer of reddish chilli oil. What I did was sautéd the Chorizo separately and drizzle some on the soup just before serving.

Fresh Thai Pineapple & Cucumber Salad

I love pineapples (Ananas comosus), a versatile fruit in which it's so sweeeeeeet and very fragrant as well! I like to use them not only in sweet desserts, drinks (what's Piña Colada without Pineapple!) or the local favourite like Pineapple Jam and Pineapple Tarts! It also gives extra tang (or a 'kick') of sweetness in savoury recipes like Pineapple Pajeri, Achar, Crab Curry, Salt Fish with Pineapple Curry, Sambals, Rojaks, Salad... The list is endless with such delicious fruit originated from southern part of Brazil and Paraguay. There are several types of pineapples hybrids that I love, available locally in Malaysia, mainly Moris (Gula Batu/Rock Sugar) Pineapple, Sarawak Pineapple, Honey Pineapple, Joesphine and Gandul Pineapple.

I remembered when I was little, I hate eating pineapples even though it's so delicious in my favourite Salt Fish & Pineapple Curry or Laksa. It's because of the dark brown 'eyes', bracts or spots which ever names it's known, caused my tongue to itch and hurt badly. My mom furiously scared when I ate pineapples with hands... :-D It's because the pineapple juice left blotches of marks on her vinyl flooring when dried... :-P Well, occasionally I still have the stings but I can handle it... with MucoAid :-P

Here's a fresh salad recipe that is very simple to make for a fuss-free hot Summer days gathering with family and friends over the BBQ... with cool and refreshing Piña Colada, of course!

Fresh Thai Pineapple & Cucumber Salad

Serves 2-4

¼ pc Fresh Pineapple ~ peeled, cored and dark brown 'eyes'/bracts removed*

( * I used only ¼ of 1 whole fresh pineapple)

2 nos Japanese Cucumbers (Kyuri) or 1 medium size cucumber

1 nos Red Onion ~ thinly sliced

1 bunch Watercress

1 Red Chilli ~ sliced thinly (optional)

Dressing:

3 Tbl Fresh Lime or Lemon juice

2 Tbl Soy Sauce

1 tsp Sugar

1 tsp Chilli Sauce

2 Tbl Fresh Mint ~ chopped (about 3-4 stalks)

Method:

1. Peel cucumbers and cut into halves lengthwise. With a small teaspoon, scoop out the seeds and cut into 1 cm pieces (you can leave the seeds on if you want, if you're using Japanese Cucumbers/Kyuri). Place it in a bowl.

2. Cut the pineapple also into 1 cm pieces and add to the cucumber.

3. Add in the sliced red onion and watercress. Mix well.

4. For the dressing; in another bowl, mix all ingredients with a whisk.

5. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss thoroughly. Serve in a salad bowl or individual plates. If you want extra spicy and hot, add some more sliced red chilli.

Note: To avoid the salad become watery, add the dressing only when you are about to serve. If you like, add some coarsely pounded toasted peanuts or any nuts of your choice.

Enjoy!

Thai Pumpkin And Chicken Curry

I was curious about this Virgin Coconut Oil and all the fuss for some time now. There were shows and information spreading around about this 'healthy coconut oil' which is derived from Fresh Coconut instead of it's dried form, Copra which is a RBD Coconut Oil (RBD stands for refined, bleached and deodorized). I finally found some brands available at an organic counter. I chose a smaller bottle to start with as I don't know how it will taste or how good it's heat tolerance in cooking as claimed by many. Also, it's said that Virgin Coconut Oil has medicinal and beauty values ranging for human usage to your faithful pets!

Guessed what? I'm hooked! :-P I was surprised by the quality of this Virgin Coconut Oil... After I cooked with the oil, the sweet coconut aroma was still there and less smoky too when it's subjected to very high heat. I'm thinking of replacing recipes using butter with Virgin Coconut Oil (like coconut in cookies) instead as suggested by Toni Fiore of Totally Vegetarian fame. Then I got this idea of replacing recipe using coconut milk with evaporated milk and Virgin Coconut Oil. The evaporated milk to give a creamy look and Virgin Coconut Oil for the coconut aroma... LOL. I'm not sure about other foodies opinions about this replacement as not all recipes are suitable and I still feel that nothing beats the original taste of fresh coconut milk... well, once awhile it's no harm. Everything should be taken in moderation, right?

If you are interested to make your own Virgin Coconut Oil, you can look into Milyn and Peter Christopher's blog, Homemadestyle and Virgin Coconut Oil.Com.

Back to the recipe, here's a recipe I used my left overs from recent cooking. I also added extra Bird's Eye Chillies at the end of the cooking to give that extra kick of wake-me-up and for my chilli-crazy brother who visited me so early in the morning on Friday :-|

Serve with steamed rice and chillies!

Thai Pumpkin and Chicken Curry

Serves 2-4

1 small Pumpkin (any suitable pumpkin, about 500 g - 700g)

500 g Boneless Chicken Thighs - cut into bite-sized pieces

½ cup Thai Basil - firmly packed & chiffonade

To be blended into paste:

2 nos Shallots - chopped coarsely

3 cloves garlic - chopped coarsely

3 Tbl Thai Red Curry Paste

2 Tbl Water

300 ml Fresh Coconut Milk (canned or packed can be use)

2 Tbl Fish Sauce (Nam pla)

1 nos Lime (½ Lemon) - extract the juice only

2 tsp Palm sugar or Light Brown Sugar

3 Tbl Virgin Coconut Oil or Cooking Oil of your choice

Method:

1. Prepare the pumpkin; halved, seeded, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks. Washed and drain well.

2. For the curry base: In a blender, add in the garlic, shallots, Thai Curry Paste and water. Process until smooth.

3. In another small bowl, combine the coconut milk, fish sauce, lime juice and sugar. Stir until the sugar dissolves.

4. Heat up a pot or deep pan over medium heat. Add in 2 Tbl of cooking oil. Shallow fry the chicken meat until light brown (half cooked). Remove and transfer the chicken pieces into a bowl or plate. Set aside.

5. Return the pot/pan to the heat and add the remaining oil. Add the curry paste and stir until fragrant (be careful the paste will caused the oil to splatter).

6. Add in the chicken meat and pumpkin. Mix well with the paste mixture.

7. Stir in the coconut milk mixture and bring to boil.

8. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the pumpkin is tender and chicken meat is cooked throughout.

9. Ladle into a bowl and garnish with Thai Basil. Serve with steamed Jasmine Rice or your favourite rice.

Note:

If you're health conscious, you can use evaporated milk instead of coconut milk. What I did before was to use Virgin Coconut Oil to cook the curry paste. Then I add in evaporated milk. This gives you the fragrant coconut flavour and creamy gravy. You can adjust the hotness of Curry Paste to your liking if you prefer.

Enjoy!

Stir-fried Mixed Colored Long Bean With Prawns and Cashew Nuts

After a nice lunch celebrating my birthday (yep, am getting wiser another year! LOL) in a Japanese Restaurant, my family decided to get some grocery at this mall. It's Sunday and this place was crowded as usual. Judging by the hot weather, I bet lots of people were enjoying the 'free' air-conditioning in such malls besides bringing their families for shopping. Yours truly, preferred to be near the freezers LOL!

What a coincidence, someone we knew participated in a local Model Search held at this mall and we're glad that he was in the final. Later on, I learnt that he didn't won anything because the main awards and other sub-titles (is this the correct term?) were won by the sponsor's own models! OK, the 14 Finalists got something like RM 400 worth of Prizes (Vouchers? Toilettries ... worth € 84.70/ USD 111.08?) I found it strange... First, they advertised for Model Search which was opened to the public. If they voted their own models (which obviously already searched and founded) as winners, what's the contest for? I suspected it's part of their gimmick to promote their agency but what a biased and unprofessional etiquette! Could it be such practice is confined locally or the same as any model agencies through out the world? Is there any models or agencies that can shed some light in this matter? Yes, I felt it's not fair that my friend didn't win a single thing but I also pitied the other hopefuls I saw that day. They should get a fair judgement and votes! I remembered I saw a petite model about 5 ft 2 in who wore a 5 inch tall high heels... blessed her feet!

Ok, now back to this recipe I wanted to share :-D I found an interesting item (also rare) among the shelves of multi colored hues of vegetables! I read about it before but never thought I saw it with my own eyes this long garnet colored long beans! This is the end product... :-D

Here's the stars fo the dish... the Red or Purple Long Bean or Yard Long Beans (Vigna unguiculata)! I pictured it with some left over, common Green Long Bean variety. There's definitely differences between these 2 species; not only it's color but taste and texture. Which one is my favourite? Any guesses?

Let's get to dish! I mixed the two types of Long Beans with some prawns and nuts. The taste came out nicely balanced with the extra creamy, cruncy cashew nuts. I admitted, I was worried that the Red/Purple Long beans may lose their color and turned mushy, just like their green cousin. I decided to give it a good stir with high heat like I usually did with vegetables - the way I preferred. Voila! Here's the result... The dark color still there and guessed what? It tasted crunchy and not mushy at all compared to Green Long Beans which is still crunchy but slightly softer even though I tossed them into the pan the same time after I mixed them up first in a colander.

Stir-fried Mixed Colored Long Beans With Prawns & Cashew Nuts

Serves 2-3

100 g Green Long Beans

100 g Red/Purple Long Beans

100 g Prawns - cleaned and deveined

50 g Cashew Nuts - toasted without oil

4 pips Garlic - minced

½ cube Chicken Stock or ½ cup homemade stock

Oil for frying

Garnishes of your choice

Method:

1. Wash the long beans and trim into 3-4 cm lengths. Set aside.

2. In a deep pan or wok, heat some oil until it's hot.

3. Add in the minced garlic and stir-fried until it's slightly brown and fragrant.

4. Add in the toasted Cashew Nuts and stir.

5. Add in prawns and stir quickly (it would curl slightly; do not over cook the prawns or any seafood too long. The texture would be hard or rubbery).

6. Quickly, add in the trimmed long beans and stir to mix thoroughly. By now, the prawns already cook properly with the long beans.

7. Dish it out and serve with your choice of garnishing.

Enjoy!

Curry Chicken in Kaffir Lime Leaves

Firstly, I wanted to thank Nihal, the Mediterranean Turkish Cook for passing me this wonderful Lemonade Award that really cheered me up after a long bout of wheezings, coughings, sore throats and sleepless nights for the last few weeks! Çok, çok teşekküler, Nihal for this Lemonade Award! Also, what a coincidence that I was cooking another family recipe that I love so much from my mom that shared the same Citrus family as this lemony award!

I'm referring to this frequent cooked Kaffir Lime Curry Chicken in Southeast Asian homes where there were several versions from different countries even available online. This fragrant curry actually doesn't have kaffir lime juice in it but its evergreen fragrant leaves! Kaffir lime itself has very little juice compared to other Limes. Besides as culinary use, it plays very important part in local beliefs. In this recipe, I preferred the curry thicker or 'dry' as the local called it and to maximise the fragrant leaves, I julienned the kaffir lime leaves finely with a very sharp knife more than required and mixed into the curry instead of whole leaves as the norm. Traditionally, my mom would use an Indian terracotta pot to cook this curry but you can use your normal heavy pot. It's only slight difference in taste (though the terracotta gives out better taste.) Here's my version adapted from my mom's... :-D

Curry Chicken with Kaffir Lime Leaves

Serves 4-6 persons

600 g - 800 g Whole Chicken or your favourite Chicken parts (thighs, drumsticks, etc)

To be pounded finely:

8 shallots

1 stalk Lemongrass - use only the white portion

4 pips Garlic

6 dried chillies

5 fresh red chillies

3 cm fresh Tumeric

Thumb-sized Galangal

10 pcs Kaffir Lime leaves

4 pieces Tamarind Slices

2-3 Tbl Cooking Oil

250 ml Fresh Thick Coconut Milk

Some water

Method:

1. Clean the chicken and cut into pieces. I preferred to remove the skin before cooking. If you don't bother, you can leave it on and remove skin later.

2. Smash the galangal with the back of a knife or you can use a pestle and mortar if you have it.

3. Soak dried chillies in warm water for 15 minutes or until soften.

4. Pound the shallots, garlic, fresh chillies, tumeric and dried chillies until fine. You can use a blender if it's more convenient.

5. Wash the Kaffir Lime leaves and cut off the hard middle stems. Roll the leaves up tightly and with a sharp knife, julienne the leaves finely.

6. Heat a deep pan or a wok until hot. Add the cooking oil and the pounded ingredients. Stir until fragrant.

7. Add the cut chicken pieces and stir. Make sure the chicken pieces are thoroughly coated with the spice mixture for about 5 minutes.

8. Add 1/4 cup water, tamarind pieces, galangal and the julienned kaffir lime leaves. Stir until the chicken pieces are well coated with the spices.

9. Pour in the fresh coconut milk. Stir and add salt to taste. Cover the pot or wok and turn the heat to medium, stirring occasionally. Simmer until chicken meat thoroughly cooked.

This curry is great with rice, bread, naan, chapati or even as stuffings for buns, puffs, pies...

Note: I added very little water (sometimes non at all) as the chicken meat and coconut milk already contained some liquid. If you add more water, it would take longer time for the gravy or curry to thicken. Nevertheless, if you like more gravy, you can add more water :-) This curry is best eaten the day after - if you can stand it ... :-P Don't worry about the quantity of kaffir leaves used, it's not going to make the curry bitter. If you want, you can squeeze some Key Lime juices after stop the cooking. Enjoy!

Baked Pork With 3 Mushrooms

It's been quite hectic days lately for me. I tried to cook some quick meals for the family and made sure that there's at least once a week, we eat home cooked meals. It's fun not to wash pots and plates but in the long run, I felt bored with the eateries' menus... :-P Talk about being fussy LOL! Don't you ever said to yourself that what you ate at the restaurants, you can cook it at home too? In current economy situation, it's time for us to make efforts being frugal. So, let's make use those 3 ingredients or 4 ingredients cooking books hidden away gathering dust in the cabinet :-P I had one book like that and recently I added a new one to my collection.

This recipe is one of the ideas of using what's left in your pantry and fridge. I nearly forgot that I froze a pack of pork shoulder meat (among others in the freezer) and some mushrooms left from previous cooking hence the 3 types of mushrooms I used in this recipe. At first, I thought it's weird and not sure how the dish will taste like especially the strong flavoured Shiitake mushrooms. Will it over powered the other mild mushrooms? My family liked it very much but let me know your feedback ;-)

Baked Pork With 3 Mushrooms

Serves 2-3

100 g Enoki Mushrooms (Golden Mushrooms)

2-4 White Button Mushrooms

2 Shiitake Mushrooms

½ Red Onion

2 cloves Garlic

200 g Pork Shoulder (or any tender chicken meat)

Seasonings:

1 tbsp Rice Wine

1 tbsp Dark Soya Sauce

1 tbsp Oyster Sauce

1 tbsp Cornstarch

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Sugar

¼ tsp Black Pepper

Method:

1. Rinse or wipe fresh mushrooms from grits. Remove any discolored parts or hard stems and cut into shreds. Rinse the Enoki mushrooms and cut off tail-ends. Peel and slice garlic and red onion.

2. Preheat oven at 200 ºC. (For those who have oven with higher set of temperature than stated, preheat oven to 250ºC.)

3. Rinse meat thoroughly ad cut into bite size pieces. Marinate with seasonings for 20-30 minutes. Transfer into a ovenproof casserole and top with all the sliced ingredients.

3. Cover with aluminum foil and transfer to preheated oven. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until tender to your preference. (If your oven's at 250ºC, bake the dish for 20 minutes.)

4. Remove aluminum foil and serve.

Note: If you don't have an oven, this recipe can be cook in a heavy pot on stove as well. Besides pork, you can also use chicken like fillets, thighs and breast meats. Serve this recipe with rice or noodles of your choice. I tried it 'dry' and as soup on cooked yellow noodles (with extra water added to the gravy)- it turned out surprisingly tasty too. I also add extra sliced spring onions, julienned carrot and red chillies as garnishing as you can see in the picture. Actually, I separated the recipe into halves because I have a guest who's not a fan of chillies (it made him upset stomach.) With the other half I added extra chopped chillies, julienned carrot and lots of sliced spring onions. Mixed it all up nicely, just before serving. It's yummy that way for me! Tell me what you think...

Enjoy!

~ Tagged: 7 Facts About Myself ~

I was tagged by CK Lam recently which is the 1st time for me since I started blogging. Frankly, I'm quite confused about this meme and tag thingies. It's like a kind of confession about yourself and since it's nearly end of the year, perhaps this tag may help me for my new resolutions! I also received few requests from those I tagged before though. It's no obligation and feel free to pass my tag(s) :-)

1. My 1st lesson in cookery was frying an omelette at age of 9.

2. I never owned Barbie Doll... I don't know why I don't have interest like some of my neighbourhood girls about Barbie. Maybe the price or I'm not blonde and skinny... :-D

3. I love books... My favourite... science, thriller, children's stories of magical world, Art & History, Famous Five, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Sherlock Holmes, 3 Investigators, languages ... the lots! Plus board games like Mastermind, Othello/Reversi, Congkak ( a version of Mancala) and many more...

4. I have phobias of swimming (no, no, no, not because of JAWS!) and driving. I need to troubleshoot the later though...

5. I love travelling... the most memorable event was flying in the Swiss Alps. I felt so timid, speechless and at awed the wonders of Mother Nature created. At the same time, my soul was peaceful thousands of feet above sea level looking down at the Matterhorn and Mont Blanc.

6. My best working life was seeing my design on TV worn by Silver Medalist in Men's Single Table Tennis in XXV Olympic Games in Barcelona. I followed the player and created the sportswear collection until I retired in 1998... LOL

7. I need to do 'fridge cleaning' (a term given by Food4tots) more often then I'm doing now :-P

Sweet Pumpkin And Lily Bulb Soup

What you do with left over pumpkin(s) in... let's say half an hour? I had some pumpkin chunks left over from the soup I made previous days :-) I thought of stir-fry with some shrimps or just with plain with garlic or onions but changed my mind which I don't even know why. Then as I browsed the net for ideas, I realized that it was Halloween judging from all the pumpkin posts on foodies blogs! To all my friends, I wished you 'Happy (belated) Halloween!' I don't celebrate it but it's kind of fun seeing bloggers and friends having fun around you and it also reminded me that Winter is just around the corner!

Besides the pumpkin, I also found my pack of 4 pcs Lily Bulbs which I can't recalled when I bought it. I have to make mental notes not to buy things or ingredients that I don't intend to use early. I did a post about Fresh Lily Bulbs before - you can have a look at how the bulb looks like. The thing is, if I don't buy it now, I may not seeing them anymore on the shelves. It's either off season or last of the lasts. I have to wait next year again! You faced such predicament to buy or not to buy??? Until I find a bigger home for larger refrigerator, I have to content with what I have now... :-( Now, for a quick dessert, yes, I'm using the pumpkin and Lily Bulbs as dessert, for a change.

Sweet Pumpkin And Lily Bulb Soup

Serves 2-3 portions

150 g Pumpkin

50 g Fresh Lily Bulbs

30 g Rock Sugar (or to your taste)

400 ml Water

Method:

1. Wash and cut pumpkin into small chunks. Set aside.

2. Wash and remove any yellow petals from Lily bulbs. Separate bulb into petals.

3. In a pot, heat the water until it boils.

4. Add in the pumpkin chunks and let it cook for about ½ hour or until soft. Add in the rock sugar and Lily petals. When the rock sugar dissolves, remove the pot from heat to avoid over cooking the Lily petals. Serve hot or cold (you can add some ice cubes if you like.)

Note: If you can't find rock sugar, you can use your daily sugar or raw cane sugar. I'm not sure if you can find Fresh Lily bulbs in your regions (please check with your local delis, florists or Asian supermarkets) but you can use the dried lily petals. Soak the dried petals, preferably overnight and boil it until soften. Then add it into the pumpkin and syrup mixture.

Enjoy!

Stir-fried Chayote Greens With Brown Mushrooms In Miso

I was asked by my neighbour, if I seen or heard this 'Loong Sou Choy' aka 'Dragon Beard' . Ok, I know my Chinese dialects are rusty (I mean since Cantonese it's not my mother tongue) here but I knew what she's referring too. I told her that I bought some ( 2 bundles of 250 g each for less than 0.50 € !) because the price was very, very cheap at the local Tesco supermarket here and my family loves this vegetable. She's not sure of this plant that's why she didn't buy any when she saw at the fresh market. As I explained more to her about this 'Loong Sou Choy', she exclaimed that she bought 2 large 'Buddha's Palms' for soup (Chayote or as I called it 'Boxing Glove') and didn't know that these 2 vegetables are the same! Now, why farmers have to create confusion to end users like us? Buddha's Palm and Dragon's Beard??? Buddha's Palm hold by Dragon's Beard? Hmmm... I'm getting confused here as well :-D

Oh well... I have a 2/3 box of miso left and a box of nice Swiss Brown Mushrooms. I need to clear some space for tomorrow's grocery shopping and with heavy rain and storms predicted for next few days, I better stock up my fridge and pantry as well. Now, about this Miso paste, first time I tasted this product, it reminded me of Tau Cheo or Salted/Fermented/Preserved Soyabeans. This Salted Soyabean product is available in 3 versions - whole beans, coarsely chopped beans and finely chopped beans. I love the addition of Salted Soyabean paste in Ayam Pongteh - without it you will face the wrath of a Peranakan (Baba & Nyonya)!!! Without this magic paste, it's not Ayam Pongteh! :-D

With what I have, this is what came out from the pan... It sounded weird but it turned out very delicious though. There's no addition of salt or stock in this dish... :-) The Miso provides all that!

Stir-fried Chayote Greens With Brown Mushrooms in Miso

Serves 2-3

2oo g Chayote Greens/Shoots - wash & use only tender parts

1 small box Swiss Brown Mushrooms (or any mushrooms about 150 g)

2-3 cloves Garlic - minced

1 medium Carrot

1 Tbl Miso paste

Cooking oil

1/2 cup sake

1 cup water

Method:

1. Wash and trim off any hard stems and spoilt leaves. Trim short the tendrils if it's too long :-D Separate the leaves and tender stems and tendrils.Drain and set aside.

2. Clean the mushrooms and remove any grits. Slice into thin pieces or you can quartered them.

3. Wash and julienne the carrot into thin strips. Set aside.

4. Mix the miso with sake until smooth paste (Miso comes in thick paste so, you need to dilute it before usage.)

5. In a deep pan/ wok, add some cooking oil. When the pan is very hot, add in the minced garlic and stir until fragrant (but not burnt!). Add in the julienned carrot. Give a quick mix.

6. Add in the mushrooms; Mix well until slightly wilted.

7. Add in the stems and tendrils; stir quickly as we want the stems to cook evenly first. Then add in the tender leaves and young shoots. Mix throughly.

8. Pour in the water; This will reduce a bit the heat. Now, add in the miso and sake mixture. Give a quick stir because we don't want to destroy the goodness of miso. Stir the vegetables throughly. You can add extra water if you want extra gravy/sauce.

9. Dish out and serve as side dish or steamed hot rice.

Note: You can adjust the quantity of miso by add in half of the mixture first because miso is salty. Then you add in more if you like. For me, the amount I added into the sake mixture was enough for that quantity of vegetable and 1 cup of water used.

Enjoy!!!

Tomato Chicken Stew

After a week of bad coughing, sneezes and lack of sleep, I really need something to perk me up. Something spicy and sourish yet doesn't hurt my sore throat (big grin), to get back to my usual self... I had to cook the deboned chicken breasts & drumsticks I bought before expired. My brain still shrouded with sleepy lambs as I typed this entry and I still need to finish the antibiotics... urghhh! Please excuse me if there's typo error... :-D Outside, it's raining heavily and windy since yesterday morning. I don't mind though... it helps to cool down the hot weather several days ago. After this, I'm going to make a cup of hot cocoa... hmmm... maybe a jug?

Tomato Chicken Stew

Serves 2-3

500 g Chicken, chopped into 5 cm pieces (or drumsticks/breast meats)

Pinch of Salt & Tumeric powder

1/2 cup Oil (for shallow frying)

2 nos Onions, sliced

1 small can Tomato Purée

2 nos Tomatoes, quartered

1 tbl Sugar or to taste

1 tbl Salt or to taste

Some Water

Spices (ground/blend finely):

6 nos Shallots

3 cloves Garlic

6-10 Red Chillies, seeded

1 pc Lemongrass (use the plump white portion only)

2 cm knob of Ginger, skinned

Method:

1. Rub chicken with a pinch salt & tumeric powder. Set aside.

2. Heat oil in a deep pan/wok over medium fire/heat. When hot, fry the chicken in batches for 5 minutes. Remove chicken, drain on kitchen papers and set aside.

3. In the remaining oil, stir-fry the ground spices until fragrant and oil separates - about 3 mins.

4. Add sliced onions and stir-fry until they start to soften - about 1 minute. Stir in tomato purée and bring to a boil.

5. Add chicken and mix well. Pour some water to cover the chicken by 3/4 (about 2 cups). Bring to a boil.

6. Reduce fire/heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Add quartered tomatoes and continue to cook for another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until chicken is tender and gravy is thick. Season to taste with salt and sugar. Garnish with chopped spring onions or coriander.

Notes: This is a Malay style stew. As with stews, it tastes better the day after. Prepare it a day ahead and warm up to serve. You can serve with rice, fried rice or even on pastas.

If you like really hot, you can replace the chillies with Dried Red Chillies but soak it first, remove the seeds and then ground/blend together with other spices.

Hope you like it... :-)

Banana-A Multi-Purpose Plant

What is abundant, biodegradable, versatile, economical, cheap (if you're in living in the producing region), multi-purpose usage, important in cultures and beliefs, etc, etc ,etc???

It's Banana - just saying its' name conjures up many finger licking thoughts... Fried, grill, raw, steam, flambé, bake, sauce, chips, curry, salads, you name it... it's possible with this multi-purpose plant, we all love since our childhood years! Banana has fancy names too; Manzano, Baby/Nino Banana, Burro, Plantain, Cavendish (well known in US and as Chiquita in EU countries.) This fruit is so famous that even we, humans are named after it as well. Example: Banana Joe and movies or shows were made about it like Banana in Pyjamas that has kids all over the world going bananas!

I'm going bananas as well with so many species and hybrids of bananas available today... :-D If you're interested to know more infos go to Bananas.org. Believe me, you will go crazy as well! I guessed I just stick to those I knew locally in Malay archipelago (depends on which is the country) like Rastali, Emas, Embun, Lidah Buaya, Raja, Nangka, Tanduk, Berangan, Awak, Nipah, etc,etc etc. ;-)

Besides all that, banana plant has many usage as well... Do you know that Banana plant is NOT a tree but a giant herb in the genus Musa? Due to its tall size and structure, a Banana plant is commonly referred to as Banana tree. Sometimes, a Banana plant bears 2 times the fruit instead of only once. To some cultures this is considered as unique and lucky for the owner of the plant. I guessed it's due to commercial bred bananas that caused such mutation? Most species of bananas we ate today are seedless or have only the vestige of seeds for easy consumption... I ate 'wild' bananas before and the seeds are about 0.50 cm in dark brown/black colour! It's difficult to find such wild fruits now due to heavy development of concrete jungle :-(

 

Banana Leaves are so famous as food wrapper and as 'plate' in Indian cuisine of Banana Leaf Rice... I'm a huge fan of Banana Leaf Rice! The strong, flexible and waterproof leaves are used in many different ways in regions where the tree is common. Another good example is Central American tamales are often steamed in banana leaves and Hawaiian Kalua cooking has the 'imu' (undrground oven) lined with banana leaves. The leaves imparts a wonderful fragrance in the cooked dishes.

My mom used it to ease the movement of her old charcoal iron on our family clothes (our clothes smell sooooooo good, crispy and fresh!) without using any easy-iron on spray :-D You can do it with our modern day iron too. If you're using a steam iron, turn off the steam; glide your hot iron across the banana leaves (it will sizzles) and strike across your clothes. 

Here are some pictures of the Banana Blossom/Banana Heart. I peeled off some petals apart to show the little florets...

Anyway, that aside... in this entry I want to share a recipe using the Banana blossom/Banana Heart as salad for side dish. It's simple but what's taking the time is the peeling of each of the florets, remove the hard stamens and boiling/steaming part... But the end results, definitely worth it!

Banana Blossom Salad

1 Whole Banana Blossom

To be chopped finely:

1 cup Fully packed Thai Basil

1 cup Fully packed Mint

1 cup Fully packed Coriander leaves

2-3 nos Limes - for juice only (or more if you like sourness)

4 nos Fresh Red Chillies (or 1-2 Tablespoons of Sambal/Chilli paste)

15 nos Shallots or Small Red Onions-slice thinly

50 g Bean Sprouts - blanched

50 g Roasted Pine Nuts/ Peanuts - roughly crushed (I prefer to use Pine Nuts)

Fish Sauce to taste

Sugar to taste

Method:

1. Prepare a deep bowl of water; you may add some lemon/lime juice or salt for soaking the banana blossom to avoid discolouration. Meanwhile, boil some water in a deep pot just enough to cover the banana florets and the 'heart'.

2. Peel off the hard outer layers of the banana blossom but reserve the florets until you reach the 'white' part of the blossom. You can keep the petals as serving bowls or 'boats'. For the florets, remove any hard stamens from inside the centre of each florets. Towards the end of that task, I normally didn't remove the softer stamens; it's soft enough to chew... :-P 

Soak all the florets and 'white' part of blossoms in the water.

Note: Some people would throw away the florets. I don't know why but I used them (not wanting to waste the precious plant.) It's edible as well.

3. In the boiled hot water, put in the 'heart' and florets. Boil them until just soft but still maintain the crunchy texture (that's my preference but you can cook them until fully soft.) That would take 20 - 30 minutes or more depends the size of the 'heart' of banana. The little florets are faster to soften. Normally, I would remove the florets first, soak them in cold tap water to stop the cooking process then continue cooking the 'heart'.

You can use pressure cooker to cook them. Follow the manufacturer's instructions and cook them for 15-20 minutes depends on the quantity and hardness of the banana 'heart'.

4. In another small pot; blanch the beansprouts quickly in hot boiling water for few seconds; Remove and cool it in cold water to stop further the cooking process. Set aside.

5. When the florets and 'heart' are cooked, slice them thinly or roughly chop to bite-size if you like. 

6. Now, comes the easy part; In a separate/mixing bowl, mix nicely all the herbs, blanched beansprouts, chopped nuts, sliced chillies or paste, lime juice, sugar and fish sauce to taste. If you are using the reserved larger petals of the banana blossom for serving; spoon the salad mixture into individual petals, decorate and serve in plate or on a large banana leaf (you can cut into shapes you like or cut into several rectangle pieces according to how many guests you're serving.) You can serve in a bowl (like in the picture below) to accompany your other main dishes... 

.: Enjoy :.