If you have nothing nice to say, better say nothing at all

Some people are experts at running their mouths, and often times they have learned to wait for just the right moment to hurt another person's feelings. How many of you agree with the saying, “If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all”? I believe in it but sometimes I forget my belief.  From time to time I speak too hastily and forget to put a check on what I am about to say. That is a silly thing to do. It doesn't take long to figure out whether what you are about to say is a mean or too critical a remark.  If your check is accurate and you realize you should either not say anything, or find a better way to say it, then you can accomplish much more and feel more peaceful in your life. I think  not saying anything is a bit like letting go. By letting go of your irritation and avoiding hurting someone's feelings you are going to award yourself with an instant chance for more inner peace. 

Has anyone of you received hateful remarks or comments on your blog before? What do you do when that happens? For me, I usually will just delete it and not even bother to think about it after that. I simply refuse to let their comments affect me. So far, I have had only one really nasty comment after two years of blogging. I deleted it, in sort of the same way that one might toss out the contents of a dustbin in my macbook. It feels good to see the contents disappeared before your eyes. Immediately afterwards, I simply forgot about it.  

During a demo event at the baking competition the other day, I overheard one lady in the crowd of watchers that had gathered make a nasty remark about the chef. 

Unfortunately the product did not turn out well. I almost wanted to ask the lady why she had said that but then, I bit my tongue and stopped myself from doing that. There is nothing nice I wanted to say to her so I should shut up. LOL!

Honestly, the truth is that when we say something hateful or mean spirited we usually end up regretting it. Nowadays, I try hard to catch myself before it happens.

Now, did I sound like I was preaching too much? Okay time to stop preaching and start sharing. Lets stuff some cabbage.

Stuffed Cabbage

I adapted the recipe from Chef Laura Calder of French Food at Home2 but with modification. I used chopped meat loaf and pomodoro sauce for the fillings. It was a perfect use of leftovers. Click on the picture to go to the link to get the chef’s recipe in case you want to try making his filling.

It was rather challenging for me, and mine did not come out as visually appealing as the Chef’s. In fact it looks messy but it  was delicious. I think I should put in more fillings in between the leaves when I make it again. 

Come and meet Australia’s leading Organic Food Cook

Anni Brownjohn  founded of The Right Food Group in 1999 with a dream to bring to the world her passion for clean, healthy, low allergy food. It has now grown to be Australia's leading developer and manufacture of organic condiments and sauces.  OZGANICS brand is available nationally and internationally.

She will be in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 27^th November to the 5^th December 2012  and will be giving demonstrations at Jaya Grocer, Empire Shopping Gallery from the 27^th of November to the 5^th of December,  2012. Food lovers should not miss this chance to meet her in person and learn more about the organic movement.  You will not only get to enjoy a three course lunch cooked with pure organic ingredients but will also recive RM100 worth of OZGANICS products for your holiday cooking.  I can’t wait to attend her demos and learn some healthy and wonderful holiday dishes from her. 

Since the holiday is near I will like to share with you a Thanksgiving recipe. For those who are not a big fan of turkey, you might consider making roast chicken instead.

QPC Roast Chicken

Picture taken by my iPhone 4S because 

we can't wait to taste it. LOL!

Ingredient:

1 chicken aprrox. 1.5 kg

1 bulb garlic minced

1 medium onion, finely chopped

olive oil, enough to oil the whole chicken

Mix all the following to prepare the rub.

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 lemon

1 tsp chopped thyme,

1 tsp chopped rosemary

1 tsp sage

Method:

Preheat oven at 200 degree C or 400 degrees F.  Take your chicken out of the fridge 30 minutes before it goes into the oven. Rub minced garlic and finely chopped underneath the skin. Next rub the mixture of spices underneath skin and on the skin. Drizzle the chicken with olive oil, rubbing it all over the chicken.Prick the lemon all over, using the tip of a sharp knife and pop into the microwave for about 30 secs to bring out its flavor. Put the lemon inside the chicken’s cavity and truss the chicken. Place the chicken  in the roasting tray and put it into the preheated oven. Roast for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until internal temperature of thickest part of the chicken is 74 degrees C or 165 degrees F. Baste the chicken halfway through cooking. When cooked, take the tray out of the oven and transfer the chicken to a board to rest for 15 minutes. Cover it with a layer of tinfoil and a tea towel and put aside before carving the chicken. 

Serve the chicken either with your favorite gravy or roasted vegetables. That is entirely up to you.

I served it with butter garlic spinach and braised carrots, potatoes and swede. My Quay Lo suggested that I place the roast chicken breast on top of the swede so that the skin will stay crispy. Good point! 

Picture taken with my iPhone 4S

Happy Deepavali

Today is Deepavali and I would like to wish all who celebrate the festival of lights a Very Happy Deepavali. May this special day brings you all lots of peace, love, happiness and good health throughout your life.

Today reminds me of our visit with our family in the USA last year. We brought with us many packets of roti canai and several varieties of ready curry mix. My step daughter and her husband learned to love roti canai when they came to visit us in Malaysia a few years ago.

More recently, when we were there, we decided to have a roti canai and curry feast night. I cooked beef rendang, korma curry prawns and dhall. 

It was great cooking for family and seeing them enjoy the food. I wish I could cook this meal for them again soon.

The next time I return to USA we will not need to bring with us the frozen roti canai and ready made curry mix. During the last trip we found all of the packets of ingredients and the roti in the supermarkets there. They have all. Look! LOL!

Packet roti canai and curry done with the ready mix may not be as delicious as doing from it scratch but they are quite authentic and good enough in my opinion, especially for an amateur in cooking Indian cuisine like me.  

My Obama lemon cheese cream tart

It was the USA election day last Wednesday. Both Quay Lo and I were eager to follow the progress of voting. We were both glued to the couch in the living hall. Our lunch was quick and simple and we had it in front of the TV. LOL! 

Simple lunch - grilled herb sausage 

and carpet bag egg on French toast with

sliced carrots and seedless grapes
(Photo taken with my iPhone 4S)

As soon as the the announcement of Obama was re-elected, we made an appointment with our good friends, “The Ishiis” . We want to celebrate the landslide victory of US President Barack Obama for second time in office. So we all decided to go dinner at our favorite restaurant "Simply Mels".

I like the cosy environment at Simply Mel's

When the food is good, we give our compliment. 

My Quay Lo signed the guest book and leave a positive comment.

If you have not been to Simply Mel's before, I would recommend that you check it out someday. Here are some of the dishes we have tried so far and they were all delicious. We have yet to try many others in the Menu and I have no doubt they will not disappoint us.

From left: 

Salada, Tauhu kung Pipinyu

salad, tau kwa and cucumber with Mel's chilli sauce.

Cincalok Fritters  - fluffy prawn fritters infused with cincalok

‘Sotong Garing’ (Deep Fried Calamari)

deepfried squid rings in a golden batter with garlic mayo

Incimintu Karangezu (Crab Stuffing)

freshly picked crabmeat, prawns, mince chicken, diced carrot, onion and turnip stuffed in crab shell. Served with Mel’s homemade chilli sauce

From left: Beef Ambiller Kachang - beef meat balls and 

Kari Seccu

dry portuguese beef curry and potatoes cooked in a thick, spiced gravy

From left: 

Kari Captain - sweet and savoury red chicken curry and Kari ‘Devil’ - debal curry with chicken and potatoes

From left:

Sambal Nanas kung Kambrang a sweet and tangy sambal with pineapple chunks

and prawns, served in pineapple. Soy Limang Terung fried aubergine in soya sauce & lime gravy with onions

Baked seabass 

From left: The Last Polka ice cream 

and chilled fresh durian in Mel's flavoured coconut milk

When there is a chance to meet up with my friends and family, I always like to share with them something I baked.  This time, the dessert I shared was inspired by my friend, Kelly Siew of "Kelly Siew Cooks". She was the runner-up for The Nutriplus Competition where I was one of the judges at the semi final - round one. Her tart won her a place at the finals. Since I baked this tart for the celebration of Obama election victory, I will name this tart after him. LOL! 

I did not replicate Kelly's lemon cream tart because I wanted something simpler to do since I do not have too much time to get it ready before we had to leave for the dinner. I found this recipe where there is no need to roll out the dough for the pie crust or the need to cook the filling. This was exactly what I wanted. I was a bit worried how the taste will turn out but then all my doubts were cleared when “The Ishiis” told me it was delicious and the balance of tartness and sweetness was perfect for them. My Quay Lo agreed the flavor was good but he preferred it to be a bit sweeter. So feel free to increase or decrease the amount of sugar and lemon juice accordingly to suit your taste.

Obama Lemon cheese cream tart

Adapted from Joy of Baking

Shortbread Crust:

1 cup (130 grams) all purpose flour

1/3 cup (35 grams) confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (113 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Method to make Shortbread Crust:

Lightly butter a 9 inch tart pan with removable base.

Put flour, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter, use your hand to rub them together till the clumps formed. Place the pastry in the prepared tart pan and, using your fingertips, evenly press the pastry onto the bottom and up the sides of the pan and then use the back of a spoon to smooth the surface of the pastry. Pierce the bottom of the crust with a fork. Cover and place the pastry crust in the freezer for 15 minutes to chill.

Preheat oven to 190 degrees C and place rack in center of oven. When the pastry is completely chilled, please a parchment paper on top and pour in some rice to weight down the pastry so that it will not puff up during baking. Put into the oven to bake until the crust is golden brown, about 13 - 15 minutes. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool while you make the filling.

Reduce the oven temperature to 180 degrees C.

Lemon Filling:

140 gm cream cheese, room temperature.

100 gm castor sugar (you can increase this if you like this sweeter)

100 ml lemon juice (you can increase this if you like this more tart)

20 ml water (omit water accordingly if you increase amount of lemon juice)

2 large eggs

1 tbs grated lemon

Method to make lemon filling:

In an electric mixer, place the cream cheese and whisk till creamy. Add sugar and whisk till combined. Add the eggs and combine thoroughly. Add the lemon juice and zest and have them well blended. Pour filling into pre baked tart shell and bake for approximately 25 - 30 minutes or until filling is set. Transfer tart to a wire rack to cool before cover and refrigerate to chill for an hour.

Topping:

240 ml cold heavy whipping

1 tbs icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Method to make topping: 

Put your mixing bowl and whisk in the fridge for about 30 minutes. Whip the whipping cream and icing until stiff peaks form. Transfer the whipped cream to a pastry bag fitted with star tip and pipe stars over the entire surface of the tart. Refrigerate till time to serve.

Do I get the "ooos" and "aahs" from you?

As most of you know, I was recruited to be on the panel of judges for The Nutriplus Baking Competition. I guess I was what might be referred to as the local "anchor" judge as I was to join each day of the event. 

Judges for the semi final -round 1

From left: Chef Bernard, Chef Federick and Quay Po

The competition took place over five days and a new panel of judges were empaneled each day, recruited  from the many celebrated chefs here in Malaysia plus me. Needless to say it was a little intimidating. On the other hand, it afforded me a ring side seat for the flurry of creativity that took place and that was thrilling. The first four days of competitive baking were for the semi-finalists, selected from all of the applications. On the fifth day the four finalists from the previous four days met for the finals round.  

Not only did I get to rub elbows with seasoned chefs (no pun intended) but I had the chance to watch other home chefs work their magic. Through observation, I gained knowledge about pastry making, not only from my fellow judges but also from the twelve very talented contestants.

Semi final - Round 1 contestants:

Semi final - Round 2 contestants:

Semi final - Round 3 contestants:

Semi final - Round 4 contestants:

The Charlotte recipe which I am going to share with you is inspired by the Winner of this competition, Wendy Yip of "Table for Two or more". Her winning bake was a water melon charlotte. She used ladies fingers, mousse and water melon. She made the ladies fingers from scratch. 

I was inspired by Wendy to make one. I did not make the ladies fingers from scratch but used what I had in my pantry which was store bought. For the fruits, I used strawberries and pineapple. Instead of making just mousse, I added  American sponge cake and marmalade jam to sandwich the mousse. There are many steps to make this but the result is stunning and the taste of the charlotte was to die for so it is all worth it. I can assure you that you will get lots of "ooos" and "aaahs" from the finished product. I want to see if I get that from you all. LOL!

Strawberry Pineapple Charlotte

Ingredients to make the marmalade jam: 

(This can be made ahead of time)

Please get the recipe from the link provided:

http://nancyharmonjenkins.com/recipes/bitter-orange-marmalade/

American Sponge Cake

Adapted from Joy of Baking

Ingredients:

3 large eggs, separated

½ cup (50 grams) sifted cake flour

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

½ cup (100 grams) granulated white sugar, divided

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoons water

Zest of 1/2 lemon  or orange

Method to make 6 inch diameter the Cake:

Have ready an ungreased 6 inch diameter cake pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees Separare the eggs, yolks in one bowl and the whites in another. Set asid and let eggs comes to room temperature (about 30 minutes).

Meanwhile sift or whisk the sifted flour with the baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Place the egg yolks and 2/3 cup (66 grams) of the sugar in the bowl. Use a hand mixer to beat on high speed until they are thick, fluffy and light in color.  Stop beating when you raise the beater and the batter will fall back into the bowl in a slow ribbon. Add evanilla extract, water, and lemon zest and mix well . Set aside while you beat the egg whites.

Whisk the egg whites until foamy and continue whisking until soft peaks form. Gradually add 1/3 cup (34 grams) of sugar and continue whisking until the egg whites are shiny and just form stiff peaks.

Next, sift the flour mixture over the beaten egg yolks. Gently but quickly fold  the flour into the egg yolk batter. Then gently fold a little of the beaten egg whites into the batter to lighten it, and then add the rest of the whites, folding just until incorporated Pour the batter into cake pan and smooth the top.

Bake in preheated oven for 28 - 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove and allow the cake to cool completely before unmolding (about one hour). Run a sharp knife around the inside of the pan and then invert the cake onto a greased wire rack. When it is completely cool, slice the cake into three pieces.

Ingredient for Vanilla Mousse:

Adapted from Shawn Scarborough

Ingredients:

1/3 cup of sugar

2 tbs of cornstarch

1 1/2 cups of full cream milk

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 cup whipped cream (see the recipe below)

Method to make the mousse:

Combine the milk, cornstarch and sugar to a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about three minutes, stirring constantly to prevent sticking. Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow to cool completely.

Pour the contents of the saucepan into a mixing bowl and add the vanilla extract. Stir in the vanilla extract. Fold in the whipped cream and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Fruits:

Strawberries - cut off the top

Pineapple - diced

To assemble of the Charlotte:

To arrange cakes, ladies finger in 7 inch diameter cake pan:

Use a 7 inch cake pan, lay a parchment paper at the bottom and grease the side with oil or butter. Place one piece of cake at the bottom and line the sides with ladies fingers. Apply jam and ¾ of an inch mouse, put another piece of cake, repeat the process and end with the last piece of cake. Put in the fridge to chill for one day.  Prepare stabilized whipped cream(see recipe below) just before serving and top the charlotte with a layer of whipped cream as the same level of the top of ladies fingers. Arrange the fruits and tie a ribbon.

Stabilized Whipped Cream:

Ingredients:

2 tbs cold water

1 tsp unflavored gelatin

2 cups (1 pint) chilled whipping cream

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbs icing sugar

Method:

Prepare the gelatin: Place the dry gelatin in a small bowl. Pour cold water over it. Let it bloom for 5 minutes. Dissolve by placing it in a container over a small pot of simmering water. Set aside to let cool.

Next, place the empty bowl  and whisk in the freezer to quickly chill. Beat cream on high speed in its pre-chilled mixer bowl. Just before it becomes soft and billowy, slowly add the sugar and vanilla extract to the whipped cream at the sides of the bowl. Continue to whip on high speed until the cream barely starts to stiffen. Stop the whipping. Take about 2 tablespoons of the cream from the mixer bowl and stir it into the cooled gelatin. Return the cream/ gelatin mixture back into the main mixing bowl with the rest of the semi-whipped cream. Continue to whip the cream on high until soft peaks form. Finish whisking till the right consistency. Cover and refrigerate.

A dish born of not having a crucial ingredient

We have a Kamias tree in our garden. It bears fruit throughout the year. The Kamias tree is called cucumber or sorrel tree in English. Its fruit is used both for cooking and traditional medicine. Kamias fruit is very sour so it is often used to make chutney or sauces for meat or fish dishes. I love the dish my mum cooks with it.  She stir fries thinly sliced kamias fruit with sliced pork and fermented soy bean paste all balanced out with garlic and sugar. I usually end up eating an extra serving when she makes  it. It is so aromatic that one can be forgiven for failing to resist. 

The dish I am sharing with you today is a bit of a happy accident born of not having "buah cermai" (Malay gooseberry) at hand. For this chef inspired dish it is a critical ingredient. These greenish, yellowish little fruits grow in clusters. Like kamias fruit, they taste rather sour too.

The following recipe is inspired by Chef Malcom Goh's Crispy Skin Salmon with buah cermai. As I did not have buah cermai in stock, I made my version of Crispy Salmon with kamias fruit instead. I am very happy with how it turned out because it is a pretty dish and had a slight umami taste experience. My Quay Lo is not a big fan of the aqua-culture salmon we get here. As a sport fisherman in the U.S. he always caught wild salmon which he prefers. On the other hand,  I am not a big fan of cooked salmon, preferring the sashimi style of serving it. However, we both agree we are happy to have a way to prepare the salmon that we both like.

Crispy Skin Salmon with kamias compote

Inspired by Chef Malcom Goh - Back to the Streets on AFC

This dish was featured in Asian Food Channel (Official) Facebook Page 

on 8th November 2012

Ingredients:

2 x 100gms salmon fillet

Method:

Season the salmon with salt and pepper. Pan fry in a pan with some corn oil skin side first on low heat. Once the fish is cooked three quarters though, using the change of colour on the flesh as your indication, turn over the fish and allow to cook on the other side for 10 more seconds. Remove the salmon and allow to rest.

kamias compote ingredients:

50gms kamias, diced

1 nos tomato, remove seeds and diced

2 nos sliced shallots

¼ cup fennel, diced

1 chilli padi, finely diced 

2 tbsp sugar

100ml water

40 gms butter

½ tsp salt

1 stalk serai (lemon grass) pounded

½ tsp roux

1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

bean sprouts shoots for garnishing

Method:

Boil water and sugar till sugar is completely dissolved. Add in tomato, shallots, kamias, lemon grass and chilli padi and let it simmer till kamias is soften. Add in butter and salt and mix well and let it simmer for another 5 minutes on low heat. Add in diced fennel and simmer till fennel is translucent. Add ½ tsp roux to thicken the sauce. Lastly add in the toasted sesame and place it on the serving plate. Put the piece of salmon on top of the sauce and garnish with bean sprouts shoots. Serve with freshly baked baguette and a green of your choice.

Aunty Power!! Agak Agak Dish

A friend once shared a link to a video titled "Chef Gordon Ramsay in Malaysia". In this video, he had learned how to cook our Malaysian dishes from all the aunties who cook their dishes with “agak agak” recipes.  Both Quay Lo and I had so much fun watching this video because there were so many funny moments. If you want a good laugh to brighten up your day, you must watch it . Also, you will understand why he called it “Aunty Power” LOL! KUDOS to all the Aunties in the world!

"Chef Gordon Ramsey in Malaysia" video

Two months ago, I made this dish which I am going to share with you. This is my first time cooking a dish “agak agak”. (no measurements) and exercised my "Aunty Power". So, I won’t be able to give you a precise recipe but I will let you know what I use to cook this "agak agak" dish. LOL! 

My Quay Lo love this dish and said it was delicious so I went ahead and made this again for my good friend on the day he was discharged from hospital after a surgery, to cheer him up. He told me later that he enjoyed the dish and it was good. So good things must be shared and here it is.

Braised pork shoulder loin

This dish was featured in Asian Food Channel (Official) Facebook page

on 6th November 2012

Agak agak ingredients:

Chunks of pork shoulder loin

Garlic cloves

Duck fat

Ground sage

Sea salt

Ground mustard seeds

Ground toasted fennel seeds

Some carrots

Fennels

Pork or chicken stock

Method:

Clean the pork should loin and remove all the silvery connective tissues and cut into big chunks. Rub the meat with sea salt and ground sage and set aside.  Add duck fat in dutch oven and brown the chunks of meat. Add in garlic cloves and stir fry till fragrant. Remove meat from dutch oven and deglaze with pork  or chicken stock. Return the meat into the dutch oven. Add fennels, carrots, ground mustard seeds and ground toasted fennel seeds and braised for 3 hours in a preheated oven at 150 degrees C. In about 1 ½ hours, dish out the fennels and carrots and set aside and continue to braise the pork shoulder loin. Return fennels and carrots to the dutch oven till they are hot before serving.