Steak with Sauteed Mushrooms and onion

Tonight's dinner was simple steak with sauteed mushrooms and onion. I also whipped up mashed potatoes with turkey bacon and mixed broccoli and carrots as a side dish. I did not make any gravy or sauce because there will be some juice from the steak.. *wink*.. Dinner was sooo yummylicious! We both enjoyed it very much. :)

It has been raining a lot these days here. Last Thursday, was the worst of all. Lotsa rain with loud thunderstorms... and I was all by myself while hubby at work.. :( I was a little scared, afraid if we would be get any tornado or something. That is very scary... Also for the first time, in my life, I saw hail. It was interesting to see small pellets of ice falling from the sky (pic at my front door)..

Hope everyone have a nice weekend. :)

Ingredients:
2 tbsp + 1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp Olive oil
1 large sweet onion, sliced
1 box fresh mushrooms, clean and sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 beef tenderloin steaks (1 1/2-inch thick)
meat tenderizer

Season steaks on both sides with meat tenderizer. Chill for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
In large skillet, heat butter until bubbly. Saute onion, mushrooms, salt, and pepper for 2 minutes. Add balsamic vinegar and continue to saute until mushrooms are tender. Set aside; cover. (There would be plenty, serve it as a side-dish, that's what I did)
Wipe out skillet. Heat butter and olive oil on the skillet over medium high heat. Add steaks to skillet. Sear the steaks, moving them with tongs a little so they don't stick to the bottom, for 5-6 minutes per side. Use a meat thermometer to test for doneness. When the steaks are done to your liking, remove from the pan, cover loosely with aluminum foil and let rest 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

On a serving plate, place the steak and topped with sauteed mushrooms and onions. Enjoy!
Notes:

Always let your steaks come to room temperature (70°F) before cooking or grilling. If your room's temperature differs from 70°F, adjust your time accordingly. A cold steak will contract when it hits the heat and this wall cause it to toughen.

A guide for the done-ness of your steak :-

• Very Rare : 130°F, red almost translucent center and cool
• Rare: 140°F (60°C), center of the steak is very red and cool
• Medium Rare: 150°F (65°C), center of the steak is red and warm
• Medium: 160°F (71°C), center of the steak is pink and hot
• Medium Well: 165°F (74°C), center of the steak is pinkish and hot
• Well done: 170+°F (77+°C), steak is thoroughly cooked

Spicy Skillet Chicken

My heart goes out to Haiti. Almost a week after the earthquake, let's pray and hope the rescuers are able to find more survivors...

Tonight, I was able to make a quick delicious dinner within 45mins. I saw this recipe in my email. It looked so delicious so I decided to give it a try. I  had to make a few changes to the ingredients since some of the items are not available in my kitchen. I was super hungry after cooking, and totally forgot to cut the chicken breast into slices like I intended to do before taking a photo... so here is how my spicy skillet chicken on a bed of rice look like...  :)

Spicy Skillet Chicken (adapted from Betty Crocker recipes)

(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

1 to 2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 tsp vegetable oil

1 tomato, chopped

1/2 green pepper, chopped

1 can (11oz) whole kernel corn, drained

1/3 cup taco sauce

2 cups cooked white rice

1. Mix chili powder, salt and pepper in a small bowl; sprinkle evenly over both sides of chicken breasts. In a nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Place the chicken on the skillet; cook 8-10 minutes, turning once, until juice of chicken is clear when center of thickest part is cut (170°F).
2. Stir in corn, tomato, green peppers and taco sauce. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer 3 to 5 minutes or until vegetables are hot. Serve over a bed of rice. 

My shredded chicken porridge

We had shredded chicken porridge (congee) for breakfast this morning.  Yay!! It was delicious!! The only part that is missing the "soto" soup!

Porridge is eaten in many Asian countries, usually for breakfast or late suppers. Back in the day, Dad often brought us to Johor, Malaysia to have late supper. The food was good and the price was definitely cheap. I cant remember the  name of the street but I remember the food vendors would close the parking lot in the evening to open for business. :( There were  a lot of food vendors selling the same type of food and mostly were seafood. My parents knew one of the owners. They are our family friends. They had really good porridge. The accompaniments were roasted peanuts, fried anchovies, fried salted fish, salted hard-boiled egg and spicy kangkong. I always gave my mom the salted hard-boiled egg and ate the rest.. I am not too sure if the food vendors still there now.

My style of shredded chicken porridge is very easy ...and I am glad hubby likes it too.. 

Ingredients:

1 cup of washed long grain rice (rinsed well and soaked in water for 15 minutes)

10 cups of chicken stock.

2 chicken legs (may use any part of chicken)

chopped spring onions

fried shallots

Seasoning:

salt to taste

white pepper to taste

Habhal's sweet soya bean sauce or light soy sauce.

a few drops of sesame oil

Bring chicken and chicken stock to a boil in a heavy pot. Allow to cook until just done. Remove and set aside to cool. Shred the meat with finger tips.

Pour stock through a large sieve into a large bowl and discard solids. Return stock to a cleaned pot and add rice. Bring to a boil. When the rice is boiling, turn the heat down to medium low. Place the lid on the pot, tilting it to allow steam to escape. Cook on medium low to low heat, stirring occasionally, until the rice has the thick, creamy texture of porridge (1 - 1 1/4 hours). Add the salt, to taste. Remove from heat. Pour into serving bowls, top up some shredded chicken, spring onions, fried shallots, some sesame seed oil and white pepper. Serve hot.

My accompaniments were scrambled eggs, spicy chai poh and Habhal's sweet soya bean sauce.

NOTES:

• There are basically 3 consistency and it corresponds to the rice-water ratio. This ratio is for cooking over the stove top where more evaporation takes place.

1 cup rice to 8 cups water : THICK
1 cup rice to 10 cups water : MEDIUM
1 cup rice to 13 cups water : THIN

• Well-washed rice is important as you want to wash away any excess rice flour which may affect the texture of the porridge.
• You can also use left over rice to make porridge. 
• The chicken meat will become tough if you over-cooked.

Wishing all a Happy 2010!!!

I'm wish everybody a Happy New Year!!! May 2010 be a wonderful year for all of us. 2009 have been a bittersweet year for me. I got married but lived far away from my families and friends. I miss them a lot. I hope 2010 be a bright future, good health and prosperity with my hubby and hope to see my family soon.. ♥♥

With that being said, my last 2009 post with end with Fried Honey Chicken Drumsticks. I never like drumsticks but its my hubby's favorite part of the chicken. So this is for him..

Fried Honey Chicken Drumsticks

Ingredients

4 chicken drumsticks

3 dry chillies - soaked in hot water

2 cloves garlic

4 small red onions - cut in cubes

1 candle-nut

2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp dark soy sauce

abt 1 tsp sesame seeds

Deep-fried the drumsticks half cook. While the drumsticks are cooking, blend chillies, onions, garlic and candle-nut in a food processor until it become to a paste.

Heat large saucepan with a little oil and saute the blended ingredients until fragrant. Add honey, dark soy sauce, deep-fried drumsticks and sesame seeds. Add salt to taste. Cook until the drumsticks are fully cooked and coated with the rest of the ingredients. Remove from heat and serve hot with plain rice.

Have a happy, happy 2010 everybody!! Best wishes. ♥♥♥♥

Kuih Keria (Fried Sweet Potato Donut)

Yesterday, I bought some sweet potatoes. I decided to make some Kuih Keria a.k.a Kuih Gelang (the simple fried up sweet potato dough with sugar coating). One of my favorite Malay kuih. Unfortunately, hubby never had this before and he doesn't seem to like it very much.  Its all good, I have more for myself.. hehe.. I think I must make him eat all the kuihs when we go back Singapore.. Looking at the pic, making me miss my mom's kuih keria... She made it so yummy, you just want more..

Kuih Keria (Fried Sweet Potato Donuts)

Ingredients

600 gm sweet potatoes - peeled and cubed
300 gm all-purpose flour
250 gm sugar
250 ml water
125 ml thick coconut milk - from half a coconut
salt to taste
cooking oil

Boil cubed sweet potatoes until soft. Mash the sweet potatoes and combine with all-purpose flour, coconut milk and salt. Knead into a soft dough.

Dust hands lightly with flour and roll each dough piece into a round ball. Flatten it slightly with the back of your hand. Slowly using your finger to poke a hole through and fashion dough into a ring. Set aside. Repeat with the rest of the dough.

Prepare oil in fryer at medium heat, and deep fry for 5-8 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and drain on paper towel.

In a small pot, cook sugar and water in a low heat till syrupy and thick. Add fried sweet potato rings and keep stirring till all potato rings are well coated with syrup and eventually crystallized.

Serve it warm or cold.