Hard Headed Woman

A man doesn't fall in love with the woman he can live with. A man falls in love with the woman he can't live without. Your man will not necessarily love you for what you do for him. He will not be head over heels for you just because you bend over backwards to please him.  Some of the reading I've done suggests that a woman who is willing to sacrifice her wants and needs to please her man isn’t appealing to him, but is just convenient for him to have around, a fact he is likely to take for granted. The reverse is likely to also be true. For an intellligent man, it is the hard-headed woman, one who will stand up for herself and challenges him, that he most appreciates and respects. A good man doesn't want to have a doormat as his woman. He likes to make his woman happy and that in turn will make him happy. I believe we all fall in love with how our partners make us feel. So ladies, remember it is not the things that you do that put your man on top of the world. It is the how you make him feel that turn him into an addict for you.

There is a song called "hard headed woman" by Cat Stevens. This is a great song with awesome lyrics. I was introduced to this song by my Quay Lo during the early years of our marriage, and to be honest, I fall in love with him all over again each time I listen to this song, largely because of what he told me about how he viewed me, and what the song presents so poetically. Why do I feel so lovey dovey? Aah..perhaps love is in the air. Valentine's Day is around the corner. May I wish you all an ENJOYABLE and LOVELY Valentine's day and let's enjoy the song for now! 

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Cat Stevens - Hard Headed Woman

By saturnflower

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Hard Headed Woman

I'm looking for a hard headed woman,

One who will take me for myself,

And if I find my hard headed woman,

I will need nobody else, no, no.

I'm looking for a hard headed woman,

One who will make me do my best,

And if I find my hard headed woman

I know the rest of my life will be blessed -- yes, yes, yes.

I know a lot of fancy dancers,

people who can glide you on a floor,

They move so smooth but have no answers.

When you ask "Why'd you come here for?"

"I don't know" "Why?"

I know many fine feathered friends

but their friendliness depends on how you do.

They know many sure fired ways

to find out the one who pays

and how you do.

I'm looking for a hard headed woman,

One who will make me feel so good,

And if I find my hard headed woman,

I know my life will be as it should -- yes, yes, yes.

I'm looking for a hard headed woman,

One who will make me do my best,

And if I find my hard headed woman...

So ladies, are you one hard headed woman? And, guys, how are you going to spend this Valentine's Day with yours?

I could hear the song playing while I was in the kitchen cooking green bean and creamed corn soup for dinner last evening. Very naturally, I found myself singing along and cooking at the same time but when it comes to the part when Cat Stevens sang, "I'm looking for a hard headed woman..", I sang, "I'm looking for a bull headed man.." LOL!


Here is the simple yet delicious soup we had for a one dish meal last evening. I had mine with rice and Quay Lo had his with freshly baked crusty bread. Try it!

Green peas and creamed corn soup

Ingredients:

1/2 tablespoon sunflower oil

1/2 green onions, chopped

1 can corn

1 can green peas

2 cups chicken broth

½ cup cooking cream

salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Heat oil in a pan at medium heat. Add onions cook till translucent. Stir in corn and and green peas and the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Why as easy as ABC and not XYZ?

When my mum served this bowl of soup to me, I asked her for the recipe and the method. I was dumb founded to see the short list of ingredients and how easy it was to cook this mouth watering delicious healthy soup. I noticed she did not use any oil.  I took two bowls with rice. I told mum I wanted to share this recipe with my readers and friends and she gave me the recipe and told me how she cooked it. I asked her twice if she had forgotten some ingredients and steps in the method. She got impatient and answered me, “Haiyah, hai kam lor, mun kam tor bai. hoe yoong yee geh, yoong yee ko Quay Lo ABC.” (Haiyah, this is it, ask so many times. very easy, more easy than Quay Lo ABC). OMG! even my mum who does not know English or speak the language knew how to say that! I could not help but laughed out loud!  So are you convinced now that this soup is simple to make? Oh... and does anyone ever wonder why it is "easy as ABC" and not XYZ?

Borlotti bean soup

Ingredients:

500 gm borlotti beans

2 medium carrots, peel skin and cut into chunks

200 gm pork ribs

800 ml chicken stock

salt to taste

Method:

Take out the beans from the straw. Wash them and put them (both beans and straw) into a soup pot. Blanch the pork ribs and drain away the water. Put the pork and chicken stock into the soup pot and bring to boil. Let it boil on high heat for 15 mins and lower heat to a simmer. Let it simmer for 1 hour or until the pork meat is tender. Serve hot after dishing out the straw.


Note: I added plain fragrant rice to the soup and this is another perfect healthy one dish meal. I think for those who are working, you can do this in the crock pot so that when you return from work, all you have to do is to cook some rice and you have a wonderful meal!

Who said we can't have the best of both worlds?

The past few days I was really, REALLY not in the mood for cooking. In fact I even uttered that to my Quay Lo and he said that I might want to consider telling my friends and readers that I am going to close down Quay Po Cooks for a break. I don’t know why, but I just felt out of it. I wondered if an episode of depression was starting to kick in!  Then after a short conversation with my Quay Lo who is ever so supportive about how I feel and ever willing to do anything to make life easy and happy for me, including foregoing a real meal, I decided to not take the path down darkness instead I went into my kitchen and started cooking.  


Just a few days ago, when my classmate, Puteh posted on her FB:
"Depression is NOT a sign of weakness, it is a sign that you have been trying to be strong for too long. Put this as your status if you know someone who has or had depression. Will you do it, and leave it on your status for at least an hour? Most people won't, but it's mental health week and 1 in 3 of us will suffer at some point in our lives. Show your support. I copied and pasted, will you?"


I re-posted that on my FB status because I agreed 100% with what was said. In reply, I have written on my FB that we are what we think and my blog is instrumental to my healing. So now I have to walk the talk. This made me change my thinking that very moment and I went straight to my fridge. I took a piece of pork loin out of the freezer and let it thaw. Then I started to gather all the ingredients and prepared to braise the pork loin with lots of vegetables and herbs for dinner. Braised pork is one of my Quay Lo's favorite dishes.

When the pork loin was done perfectly and the gravy was prepared, I told my Quay Lo that dinner will be ready soon. He came into the kitchen and looked at the pot of gravy, cooked vegetables and the braised pork loin and an idea struck him. We had talked about cooking ahead so that on evenings we didn't feel like cooking, we would have something in the freezer that we could simply warm up. He observed that we could save the pork loin for future meals (he loves pork sandwiches) and use the gravy and the aromatic vegetables from the braising pot for a soup. His wave length was on minestrone, so he suggested that we add more chicken stock, a small amount of diced boiled potatoes for thickening, a can of Italian tomatos, a can of black beans, and a handful of freshly cooked pasta. Though the vegetables and gravy were already well spiced, we added freshly ground oregano. We ended up with a two quart braising pot full of soup which we simmered for half an hour then let it sit for another two hours, before reheating qnd having our first meal of it. I knew the reason he suggested this was because he wanted to have the soup ready so whenever his Quay Po goes cranky, he can just tell her “Honey, it is okay, no need to cook if you don’t feel like it.”  By this time, the heaviness in my heart was gone. We now have a whole braised pork loin, well seasoned and cooked perfectly, wrapped and ready in the fridge and an ultra delicious soup placed in three containers (each enough for a meal for both of us) in the freezer as welll as that evening's dinner.


My god daughter, Cheryl posted on the status of her FB "If you have a wonderful husband or a boyfriend who works hard to take care of you and would do anything for you, then re-post this as your status to give the honest good men out there the recogniton that they deserve. Because great men are few and I am proud that I HAVE ONE.:)" Cheryl, if you are reading this post, I am happy you feel blessed because we will be a happier person if we all have gratitude. My Quay Lo told me that gratitude is one of the most important keys to a happy life and if we can truly be thankful for what we have, we will be contented and what we don't have will not bother us.

I did not re-post that on my status, but I am giving my Quay Lo the recognition here for successfully pulling me out of my "CRANKINESS" and into cooking a nice meal for him instead! It is one that I am proud of. The soup was so good and I know the pork loin will be "killer". Yay! Quay Po Cooks will be here to stay for my Quay Lo, my friends, family, my readers and especially my blogger friends! So remember when you feel down and out, you can change your thinking!  Trust this, you are what you think:D

Here are the recipes for the pork loin and the last minute self created pasta and vegetables soup (Quaylo says it's "minestrone"). Both braised pork loin and the soup is SOO delicious that I am not shy to blow my own trumphet! Tell me if this is not the best of both worlds! I would also like to dedicate this post to all those who have or had depression and wish you all speedy healing! HUGZZ!!

Braised pork loin

Ingredients:

2 to 3 lbs boneless Pork loin without skin and tied with kitchen twine

1 green apple, chunks

2 stick celery, cut into 1 in piece

200 gm asparagus, cut into shorter length

1 ½ medium white onion, cut into 6 portions

5 cloves garlic with skin

4 shallots, sliced

1 sprig of fresh rosemary

2 or 2 sprigs of fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

1 cup white wine

2 tbs sunflower oil

Enough of chicken stock to cover the pork loin

To Marinate pork loin:

Ingredients:

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp ground coriander seeds

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp cumin

Method:

Mix all the above and rub thoroughly over pork loin and set aside and let it marinade for about 30 minutes.

Method of Braising the pork loin:

Heat oil in the cast iron pot. Add onion and garlic, stir fry till onion is slightly limb. Add shallots and stir fry till fragrant. Remove onion, garlic and shallots and set aside. Use the oil to sear the pork loin and make sure all sides are browned.  Remove seared pork loin from pot and set aside. Remove half of the oil from the pot and turn the heat up to high. Throw in all the vegetables and mix well with the oil. Return the pork loin back into the pot. Add chicken stock till it completely covered the pork loin and top it with the cooked onion, garlic and shallots, rosemary and thyme. Braised it in an oven at 220 degrees C for about 50 mins or till the meat thermometer reads 72 degrees C for medium cooked pork.  Remove all contents from the pot and reduce the stock till it thicken. You may thicken it further with 1 tbs corn flour in 2 tbs water.  Return all the cooked vegetables into the pot of gravy. Make sure you cover the pork loin and let it rest for 15 mins before cutting to serve. I served it with mashed potato and buttered asparagus.

For those who want to know how to tie the pork loin here is a good video tutoial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sbv4z_842ik&feature=relate


Vegetables, Beans and Pasta soup

Ingredients:
Reserved liquid, vegetables and gravy from braising the pork loin
1 litre chicken stock
1 can Pomodori tomatos, roughly chopped, with liquid from the can
1 can black beans with liquid from the can
200 gms cubed ham (smoke cured will work especially well here)
2 small potatoes, skinned, par boiled, and cubed
1 tsp fresh or re-ground oregano
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
salt and black pepper to taste (be sure to taste before adding) 
140 grams of cooked pasta shells or macaroni*

* We had a bag of corn and "vegetable", gluten free, pasta that had been purchased by my Quay Lo by accident so we decided to use it up. It was quite good actually but semolina flour pasta is more traditional.


Method:
After braising, remove the pork loin (this would work well with braised beef as well) and add the above ingredients to the pot. Simmer for thirty minutes and let stand until completely cooled (this will result in a nice exchange of flavors between braising herbs and spices with the newly introduced ones.) Store and reheat as desired.

Black eye peas and peanuts soup

I have been eating too much rich food the past few days and just want something plain and simple for a change. I put a cup of cooked rice into this soup and I have a healthy meal. This is it!

Ingredient:

(A)

50 gm black eye pea, soaked overnight

50 gm peanuts, soaked for 3 hours

600 ml water

1 cube bullion chicken stock

(B)

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp ground white pepper

Method:

Add (A) in a soup pot and bring to boil.  Lower heat to medium and simmer for 1 hour. Add B and serve hot.

QPC bean soup on the 2nd day of Christmas, Anyone?

My hubby is a big fan of bean soup and cornbread so we have it more often than most I would guess. However, I chanced a twist on it and surprised him by adding grilled capsicum, garlic and onions this time. If you have some left over ham after Christmas, I recommend that you give this recipe a go. The spicy, smoky flavor of the oven roasted aromatics as well as the small amount of bacon I use, is beautiful with the earthy, round flavors of the beans (whichever of them you use) and very pleasing to the palate. (As I am not an expert on this favorite American "comfort" food I have to believe it must be tasty when my #1 food critic asks for a second helping and makes mmmm sounds throughout the meal.)

Serving: 6
Ingredients:
500 gms dried mixed beans, wash and soak overnight
3 strips bacon, fried till crispy and break into small pieces
1 tsp bacon dripping from the pan
1 cup chopped parsley

(A)

6 cups water

250 gm left over ham

1 onions, cut into 6 parts and grilled

1 head garlic, grilled and sliced into strips

1 red capsicum, grilled and sliced into strips

1 green capsicum, grilled and sliced into strips

1 yellow capsicum, grilled and sliced into strips

1 stalks celery, diced

1 bay leaf

1 tsp yellow mustard seeds

½ cup curry leaves

(B)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

2 cubes chicken bouillon, mashed

1 (16 ounce) can diced tomatoes

Method:

Put (A) into the soup pot and bring to boil. Turn down heat to medium anmd let it simmer for 1 1/2 hours.  Add (B) and let boil for 15 min. Add crispy bacon and simmer for 30 more secs. Turn off heat. Fill soup bowls and add a few drop of bacon dripping to each bowl. Garnish with chopped parsley. Serve hot. My recommendation is to served with freshly baked corn bread.