Thursday, May 10, 2012

When life hands you leftovers

In end of March, one of my son's friend, also a local musician collapsed during a performance due to brain haemorrhage. He is only 30 years old and he did not have any medical insurance.




He went under a surgery and the Doctor said the surgery was successful and he is in induced coma and will take about three weeks to heal. Until now, he is still in a coma and his hospital bill is running causing much financial burden to his aged parents. Local musicians had been organising gigs to raise funds to help out and if you are interested to know more please go to his facebook. If any of you wish to do a little donation or wish to spread the words by blogging or tweeting, all the details are there. I am sure Alda's parents will be VERY grateful for your kindness.


Then, two weeks ago I woke up to a bad news from one of my ex school mates. She told me her brother's life was ended abruptly by some robbers because of a serious head injury. The robbers hit his head with their helmets before robbing him. It always break my heart to hear of anyone lose a love one. I know how it feels and I know the pain.
A word of caution, please be alert when you are out and about. This can happen to anyone of us



Life had handed these two families lemons. It is so sad.  I know what to do when life hands me leftovers but I am not sure if I know what to do if they are lemons.  I came across this website that has so many suggestions on what to do when life hands you lemons and it was a fun read. I thought it is worth sharing with my friend and hope it will cheer her up. I know this will give her a chuckle and brighten up her day. Hope it will also put a smile on your face.

Okay, so now at least if life hands me lemons, I will have some ideas what to do with them. But there are other things life presents us with that could use our best thoughtful approach. Yes... I am talking about leftovers. You know, if we do nothing, they just sit there and grow a funny blue and green garden of their own. Unless you LIKE alien life in your fridge, you better be ready to do something with them. A few evenings ago. I turned them into a brand new dish, even though the "leftovers" were the ingredients.  With a little creativity, I invented a new dish.  I had some leftover garlic and butter sautéed zucchini and mushrooms. I used a piece of ciabatta bread, halved it and applied a little mayonnaise on each side. Then, I poached an egg (not very nice done though) and used the leftovers, some sliced tomato and lettuce, and constructed a sandwich for lunch. It was a scrumptious meal. So, next time you have leftovers, don’t throw them away.  

A fresh new meal made with leftover sauteed veggies


 
I have never been successful poaching an egg (you can see that in the pucture. I search the web for methods and gave exoerimented with a few. Finally, I found an excellent way to do it right from the blog "Martha meets Lucy" Here are the instructions:



1: You need a nonstick pan with a lid that fits. Preheat it on medium heat. 


2: Add a teaspoon or so of bacon fat or other fat that you have at home. However, the egg will be more tasty if you use bacon fat.

3: Carefully crack an egg or eggs into the pan ensuring that the yolk is/are not broken. You will see the bottom part of the white start to turn white immediately and you know you are on the right track.

4: Add 1 tablespoon full of water to the pan and cover.  The water will create steam to cook the top of the egg/eggs.

5: Let the egg/eggs cook with the lid on for 30 seconds to 1 minute. When you see a whitish think layer white formed on the yolk, the white white is completely set, you have to remove the egg from the pan and serve.

Note: The egg in the above photos was not poached with this method, I did not know how.  I did not take a photo of the ones I poached with the method I shared above but I can assure you this method works.









53 comments:

  1. Last time Chef Ryan Khang taught us how to poach an egg, using his method need to foldover the egg white to cover the yolk.

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    1. Wow, next time you must come to my house and teach me the proper way to poach an egg. I make macarons for you. deal?

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    2. I havent done it in a while, I should practice first before I try to teach you LOL!

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  2. I learnt how to poach egg together with Baby Sumo, kekeke.

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    1. haha lucky you are so far away, if not, I will be at your door right now to ask you to teach me.

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  3. I feel so sorry for the two families. Life is so short and precious. I hope things will only get better for both of them. =)

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  4. Life is short and fragile. So I always remind myself to live everyday like it is the last day of my life. News that break my heart most is the child abuse case by the child's parents.

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    1. You are doing that right thing Yen. Oh that case is SICK but it is a VERY OLD case already. I wonder why is now surfacing on You tube again.

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  5. Thanks for sharing...will pray for the families. Also, learning to poach an egg is high in my culinary to-do list.

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    1. Luan Ee, I know you will pray for them. Thank you. I don't think you need to learn how to poach an egg. Are you being modest? hehe

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    2. No, I'm serious. I want to make a perfect egg benedict but first I need to learn to poach the egg!! Then learn to make Hollandaise sauce. Then bake English muffin. I already know how to smoke my own salmon.

      Sigh, maybe it's easier to just buy one.

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  6. Life can end anytime, natural causes and/or otherwise. I live my life enjoying each day at a time, not worrying too much about the things I can't do anything about. So sad about your son's friend and your ex classmate's brother. It's good they have support all around them.
    On a lighter note .... I'd wasted 2 cartons of eggs trying to make a good-looking poached egg and still have yet to succeed. I give up ... for the moment. Will ogle at yours for now :)

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    1. During tragic moments, support from friends and family make the difficult times easier to bear. hahaha, you wasted 2 cartons of eggs? I hope you did not throw them away and made something out of them.

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  7. It is sad to hear someone dear to you was down with sickness. Life is so unpredictable and we have to face the outcome no matter what. My brother-in-law one day while shopping in Spore one evening (that's two years ago), had a sudden headache or nausea, had to immediate send to hospital, doctor announced he had a "Brain Aneurysm". Though recovered, but still need full care of him. It has been hard on my sister. There's a technique to poach an egg; unfortunately I am no no good too....

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    1. I am sorry to hear about your brother in law. I am sure it is very hard on your sister. I hope your BIL will recover fully soon. Poaching an egg sounded easy to do but in actual fact it is very difficult to get a perfect poached egg.

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  8. Sorry to hear about your son's friend Alda. My thoughts are with you and his family.

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  9. eggs and bacon fat is such a magical combination! that's how i make it too:P

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    1. Yes, bacon fact is truly a magical ingredient in both baking and cooking. It is a must-have ingredient in every kitchen.

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  10. Ya...I guess everybody knows that I always cook up something with leftovers and what my missus leaves in the fridge. The river is wide, the current is strong and rough - let us hope that God is kind to us in the crossing. Pray for His blessings and protection always.

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    1. Yes, I know you are the leftovers King!! I hope for the same too.

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  11. I'm so sorry you're having to go through this, but I am glad the egg method worked for you. Its pretty foolproof.

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    1. I am sorry, you may have mistaken. my friend and my son's friend's family are going through difficult time not me:D Thank for dropping by. Hope to see you around.

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  12. When life hands you leftovers, reheat it!!
    Sigh I actually felt scared going out these days after hearing so many robbery cases :(

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    1. My dear, ya reheat it and finish them all! You have to be very careful when you go out alone. I don't blame you for being scared. Remember not tocpark your car in quiet places and be alert all the time.

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  13. I'm sorry to hear about your son's friend and your friend's brother. I think it's part and parcel of life to receive lemons every now and then.

    Btw, very creative with the leftovers!

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  14. I m so sorry to hear abt those two families. Will definitely pray for them.
    Great work with the leftovers

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    1. Thanks and hope the two families will heal soon.

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  15. My thoughts are with both the families! :( An unfortunate reminder to all of us that we should live everyday like it's our last!

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  16. What a sad story, yes you are right we all need to be careful.
    Nice egg! Our leftovers each night are packed up into tupperware containers and popped in the freezer to take to work for lunches. I hate waste.

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  17. Life can be really unfair. Very sad stories.

    Greetings,
    Filip

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    1. Yes, it is and don't you wonder why sometimes?

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  18. It's really sad to hear about these 2 incidents! Life is so fragile! I'm still learning very hard to cherish the moment that I have with my 2 children though I'm spending most of my time screaming from my kitchen! Ethan is turning 5 in 3 months whereas Isabelle is turning 2 by next Thu! They are so handful! 1 second they play like very good buddies but the next second, they will fight!

    Oh, b4 I forgot, wish you a very Happy Mother's Day!

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    1. No worries about siblings fight, it is part of growing up. They are a handful now but enjoy them. Very soon, you will have two empty hands when they fly off the nest. Happy Mother's Day to you too. Hugs.

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  19. It is so sad when a life is ended unnaturally, and unexpected. Sorry to hear about your friend's bother.

    I think I only poached eggs once. I don't even remember if they turned out. I usually don't like the wet feel of poached eggs so I just pan fry them :) I'm so bad! :)

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    1. I am with you. I like pan fry eggs better than poached eggs. Perhaps, it is because I can never do a perfect one. LOL!

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  20. I never have success poaching egg too.

    So sad to hear what happened to your son friend. We are about the same age.

    So sad too knowing what happened to your friend's brother. People stealing precious life like that.

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    1. Try the method I just shared with you, you might succeed in poaching an egg with it:D

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  21. Hi Quay Po,
    Its sad to hear such bad incidents. Life is fragile. i agreed with Jessie, me too cherish my moments with my 3 boys and hubby..

    I like how you make use of your leftover. They look and feels great..must be really yummy. I never poach an egg before. Thanks for the tips.

    Wish you a very HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY..:D

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    1. You are most welcome. Hope the above method of poaching an egg works for you. You are very wise to cherish every moment with your love ones. Happy Mother's Day to you too. Hugs

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  22. Sorry to hear about those two unfortunate incidents. I think I will also need Baby Sumo to teach me how to poach an egg. I wasted 12 eggs and all tak jadi. o_0

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    1. Ya, let's schedule a day where we all go learn from Baby Sumo.

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  23. Hello Quaypo,
    I was browsing some websites on some recipes and came across this site teaching how to poach an egg. Maybe you like to have a look at it. here it is http://www.pbs.org/food/fresh-tastes/poached-eggs/

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    1. Mel, Thank you so much for the link I will try the method and let you know.

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  24. I'm so sorry to learn of the incidents above. Life's short, as the saying goes. Nice poach egg you've got there. It's not easy dealing with the right texture.

    Veron, just dropping by to wish u a Happy Mother's Day with your family & be sure to head over for a mouth-watering dish + some laughter @ Surprise Mom with A Stalk of Abalone Flower On Mother’s Day!

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    1. Thanks Shirley, Happy Mother's Day to you too.

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  25. wow your egg yolk is so perfect! :)

    Latest: Crown of Pork Experience

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    1. The egg yolk is okay but it is not a very nice poach egg:(

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  26. been seeing this Alda news everywhere on Twitter on Facebook. Oh well :/

    there is lots of danger in everywhere in every places. just hope that those thief or badass dun eye on me or all of lovely people that I know :X

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