Honey Roasted Malay Style Chicken

Honey roasted chicken is one of our favorite dish. I used the Malay-style recipe this time. When you smell the aroma of chicken being cooked, it was wonderful... Have it with white rice or flavored rice or just dip it in your chilli sauce, delish! =)

Honey Roasted Malay Style Chicken

Adapted from Malaysian Recipes +>Ayam Panggang (Honey Roasted Malay Style Chicken) 

Ingredients:

8 chicken pieces (make some slits on the meat)

1 tbsp coriander powder

½ tsp black pepper

2 tsp ginger powder

1 tbsp light soy sauce

2 tbsp honey

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp olive oil

Method:

1. Rinse chicken and pat dry wit kitchen towel.
2. Mix ginger, soy sauce, honey, oil & salt in a small bowl.
3. Pour this over chicken together with spices and marinate for at least 1 hr ( I marinate overnight, covered with foil). 
4. Grill chicken under preheated grill or roast in oven set @ 375 °F for 30 mins, turning halfway through cooking time.

Chicken Curry - Cook and Share a Pot of Curry 2012 event

Today is "Cook and Share a Pot of Curry 2012" event on FB. So I cooked chicken curry and shared with hubby. hehe.. The Curry Team have also created a new Curry page, check it out and LIKE them.  =) I know I posted chicken curry recipes before but this is another version. The following recipe is a mixture from recipes that I collected. I changed and add just a bit here and there to suit my taste. 

Here is our chicken curry with colorful roti jala. =)

Chicken Curry

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken, cleaned & chopped into smaller pieces

3 potatoes, peeled & cubed

4 hard boiled eggs, peeled

1 cup coconut milk

3-4 cups water or chicken stock

4-5 tbsp curry powder

2 stalks lemongrass, light part & bruised

1-2 bulb shallot, peeled & slice thinly

8-10 curry leaves

2-3 tbsp ghee or cooking oil

1 tbsp fish sauce

a little sugar

salt to taste

Paste: To grind in the blender or use Mortar and pestle :

3 bulbs shallots, peeled

5 cloves garlic, peeled

3-4 candlenuts

3cm ginger, peeled

1-2 fresh red or green chilli (Omitted, cos if not, it will be too spicy for us)

Method:

1. Mix curry powder with 2-3 tbsp of water to form a smooth paste. 
2. Heat ghee or cooking oil in a large pot, saute the paste mixture, curry leaves, lemongrass until fragrant, stirring constantly.
3. Add the curry paste, sliced shallots and chicken pieces.
4. Cook for 10 minutes to sear the mix. 
5. Add in water and potatoes. Covered and bring it to a boil. 
6. Then add the fish sauce, sugar (amount of sugar is how sweet you want but not too sweet) and salt to taste. Add hard boiled egg.
7. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, semi-covered until chicken and potatoes are done. 
8. Serve with roti jala or steamed rice. 

Here is the link for ROTI JALA. 

Homemade Chwee Kueh

Chwee Kueh is a type of steamed rice cake, served with fried preserved radish or some top theirs with a fried shallot oil and hot chilli sauce. This is a popular Chinese breakfast item in Singapore. 

Ingredients:

Topping 

60ml cooking oil

3 cloves garlic (minced)

100 gram ground beef or chicken

200g preserved radish(chai poh) (if you want less salty, soak for a while before you used them) 

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp white pepper

1 tbsp black sweet soy

Rice cake

 180g rice flour

2 tbsp sago flour (I used 1½ tbsp tapioca flour + ½ tbsp cornflour)

750ml water

2 tbsp corn oil

½ tsp salt

Method for the topping:

Heat oil in a saucepan or wok and saute the minced garlic until fragrant. Add meat and preserved radish. Stir and add the seasonings (sugar, white pepper and black sweet soy). Cook until dry. Then set aside to cool. 

Method for the steamed rice cake:

Prepare your steamer and grease your molds/cups. 

Stir the rice flour and sago flour (tapioca flour+cornflour) in a large bowl. make a hold in the center and 300 ml water to form a smooth batter. Strain the batter to remove any lumps. Set aside. 

Bring the remaining of the water, salt and salt to a boil.  Pour the boiling water mixture to the batter and stir well and quickly. Pour the batter into the molds and steam it over high heat for 10-12 minutes or until the rice cake is cooked. (Depending on your molds, the timing varies). Remove and let it cool for 10 minutes. Remove the kueh, top it with preserved radish and serve. 

Note:

The recipe I used was from the newspaper cutting but I found an excellent info about chwee kueh from Gastronommy. Check it out!

Crispy Fried Chicken

Just wanna share with you a tasty crispy fried chicken recipe that both of us love. Yum-Yum!!

Ingredients: 

5-6 pieces chicken (mix of drumsticks, thighs or breasts)

100gm cornflour

1 packet (12gm) Seri-Aji All-purpose Deep Fried Seasoning mix

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp ginger powder

dash of white pepper

vegetable oil for frying

In a bowl, mix garlic powder, ginger powder and white pepper together. Then coat the chicken pieces with the mix and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Mix the all-purpose deep-fried seasoning mix with cornflour in a medium bowl. In a shallow dish or bowl, break the egg and whisk lightly. Set aside. 

When the chicken are ready to fry, dip each piece in the beaten egg then dredge in the flour mixture, coating completely. 

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high and fry chicken in skillet. Fry until one side is golden brown, then turn and brown other side until chicken is no longer pink inside and its juices run clear. 

Drain on paper towel and serve. 

Fried Macaroni

The weather is quite upsetting these days. Cloudy days, rain with thunderstorm is no fun at all... I hope the weather gets better soon.. Anyway, it's been a while since I cooked fried macaroni. A friend on mine who is located in Korea shared this recipe with me. The caramel sauce or sweet sauce will add texture to the food but you can use sugar in replacement. Be sure to turn on your kitchen range hood/ventilation fan, open up your windows and put those candles or scented oil to work because while frying the paste, your place is gonna smell for a while.. hehe.. Although the smell is strong, but trust me the fried macaroni will turn out great!! :))

Ingredients:

500g macaroni - boiled until al-dente, drained
250g chicken meat - cut in small cubes

mixed vegetables (your choice of vegetables)

slices of mushrooms

oil to fry

To grind until become a paste:

4 cloves garlic

1 onion

3-4 tbsp blended dried chilli (I used 2 tsp of chilli powder)

2 tbsp dried shrimps, soaked with water until soft, drained

Seasonings:

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp heavy salt-soy sauce

2-3 tbsp sweet sauce or caramel sauce

1-2 tbsp sweet soy sauce

ground white pepper

1 tsp sesame seed oil

salt to taste

Garnish:

slices of omelette

fried shallots

chopped green onions

chopped cilantro

Method:

Heat some oil in the wok. Fry the grinded paste until totally cooked. Add chicken meat, vegetables and mushrooms. Cook until the chicken is cooked and vegetables is soften. Then add the seasonings. Stir for about 1-2 minutes then add the macaroni. Add salt to taste (if required). Stir well and remove from heat. Serve hot with slices omelette, chopped green onions and chopped cilantro for garnishing.

Thank you Mrs. D.B. for the recipe. :))

Stir-fry Black Pepper Chicken

It was my good friend introduced the store-bought black pepper sauce to me. I love black pepper sauce dishes and seriously I didn't even know there is a ready-to-use black pepper sauce exist. (where have I been.. hahaha..) A super easy and fast dish that you can enjoy. No fuss and no mess. Cook it with your choice of meat, fish, seafood or just vegetables.

~ if only there's crabs available here, i want some black pepper crabs..... ~

Stir-fry black pepper chicken. 

Ingredients:

100g sliced chicken tenders (You can use other meat or seafood)

1 small onion, sliced

2 clove garlic, sliced

favorite vegetables (I used carrots, radish and Chinese kale)

1/2 cup water

2 tbsp black pepper sauce

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Heat oil in a pan or wok over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic until fragrant. Add meat and stir-fry until cook. Add your favorite vegetables. Add water and let it simmer. Add black pepper sauce and stir fry to combine well for another 1-2 minutes. Turn off heat and dish up. Serve immediately.

Chicken curry without using coconut milk

I have been looking for a chicken curry recipe without using any coconut milk or yogurt. I've tried a few recipes and they were not really the right one. Finally, I found a recipe; Aisha's chicken curry without using coconut milk (mesra). I really like this recipe because it is easy, delicious and not too spicy for me! It's a keeper!! :)

Curry chicken without using coconut milk,

adapted from Aisha's kari ayam tanpa santan

Ingredients:

1 whole skinless chicken or equivalent size chicken breasts

1 large onion, thinly sliced

2 tomatoes, diced

3 green cardamon

1 cinnamon stick

4 whole cloves

daun pudina (mint leaves), optional

a few dry curry leaves, optional

4 tbsp curry powder (Baba's meat curry is the best!)

1 tbsp tomato puree

3-4 tbsp olive oil

1 cup water

2 potatoes, cut in four

salt to taste

Blended ingredients:

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

1cm ginger

Garnish:

green chillies, thinly sliced

coriander leaves/cilantro

Blend 1 onion, garlic and ginger until smooth (you might want to add a little water to the mix). 

Heat olive oil in a wok or skillet over medium heat. Saute sliced onions, mint leaves, curry leaves, green cardamon, cinnamon stick, whole cloves and diced tomatoes until onions are transparently yellowish.

Add the blended ingredients, tomato puree and curry powder. Slowly stir and mix until all combined. Keep stirring until you see oil separating from the onions and spices. Then add the chicken and water. Cook until the chicken is almost tender, then add the potatoes and cover again. Add salt to taste. Keep the lid closed and let the chicken and potatoes well cooked.

Serve hot with plain rice or roti kirai (lacy pancakes) or baguette. Enjoy!

Notes:

You don't have to use the curry leaves, I used them because I like it. ;)

But it would be much better to add mint leaves because they brings out the flavor and fragrant of the curry.

Oven Fried Chicken

My mum loves fried chicken and so do I. Especially those crispy ones. hmm.. yum-yum.. But I don't quite like them being deep-fried, too greasy. I hate to use napkins to wipe off some of the grease. Believe me, before when I ate fried chicken, I got into the habit of wiping off the grease before putting it into my mouth.. haha... 

I was delighted when I found out about oven fried chicken. Crispy and delicious, oven fried chicken is much healthier than any traditional fried chicken. You can eat these oven fried chicken by itself or make it into a sandwich.

With the mini buns that I made yesterday, we had chicken sandwiches. I sauteed onions and mushroom to go on top of the chicken.  Delicious oven fried chicken sandwich with sauteed onions and mushrooms... ohh don't forget the cheese.. hehe.. :)

Oven Fried Chicken 

(adapted from Food Network)

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cup cornflakes

1 cup toasted white bread

1 tbsp virgin oil

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 tsp ground mustard

4 skinless chicken pieces (about 6 ounces each) 

*(I used skinless chicken breast and cut into half)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Set a rack on a foil lined baking sheet. Spray the rack generously with cooking spray. Finely grind the cereal and toast together in a food processor. Transfer the crumbs to a large gallon size plastic bag. Add the oil, salt, paprika, and ground pepper and toss to mix thoroughly. Whisk the mayonnaise and mustard together in a medium shallow bowl. Add chicken to mayonnaise mix and turn to coat all the pieces evenly. Drop the chicken into the plastic bag, seal and shake until each piece is evenly coated. Drizzle some virgin oil, and bake for about 30-40 minutes or until the coating crisps and browns. Transfer to a platter and serve hot or at room temperature.

**P.S: Remember, I said I will post about the Eid-ul Adha food, well I'm very sorry I did not post anything on that. Last minute, I did not cook anything special. We just had Sambal Tumis Ayam and Kentang (Spicy Chicken and Potato Chilli based Sauce) with white rice. :)

Honey Baked Chicken II

This honey baked chicken is delicious! It has excellent flavor and most importantly hubby loves it. :) The recipe is available at Allrecipes. After reading the reviews, I've made some changes to the recipe. I highly recommend this recipe!! Yummy!!!

Ingredients:

1 (3 pound) whole chicken, cut into pieces

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup honey

1/3 cup mustard

1 tsp salt

1 tsp curry powder

1 clove garlic, minced

Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Place the chicken in a shallow baking pan. Combine all the ingredients and pour the mixture over. (coat well). Baked them covered for 1 hour, turning halfway through. Then remove the foil, basted the chicken pieces again. Turn the oven up to 400 degrees, and baked them skin side up for an additional 15-20 minutes or until nicely browned.

Serve over white rice with steamed vegetables. :))

Chicken with mushroom and mozzarella

Yesterday was a rush! I did not have the time to cook what I wanted for Iftar yesterday. So I browsed my recipe book and I found this simple and easy chicken recipe. Made some balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing to drizzle over the spinach and tomatoes..  I had this recipe for a long time in my recipe book but never thought of giving it a try. I'm glad I did last night... It was delicious.  Yummy!!!

Ingredients:

4 pc (600g) chicken breast

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tbsp flour for dusting

3 tbsp butter

1 medium onion, sliced

2 clove garlic, chopped

250g mushrooms (stems removed), sliced

1 tbsp dried mixed herbs

150g mozzarella cheese, sliced to 5mm thickness (used shredded mozzarella)

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Dust with flour and set aside. Preheat oven at 350F. Heat 1 tbsp butter. Fry onion and garlic till soft. Add mushroom, stir fry for 3mins or until soft. Remove and set aside. Same pan, heat remaining butter. Brown chicken for 4-5mins. Remove chicken and place in a baking tray. Pour stir-fried onions/mushrooms over chicken and sprinkle with herbs. Top with mozzarella slices. Bake for 15-20mins. 

Mee Hailam PHALINN OOI

Singapore Flag

August 9 is Singapore's National Day. I'll like to take this opportunity to wish Singapore a Happy 45th Burfday!!!! Being so far away, made me miss the place I called HOME and is always in my ♥ ♥heart♥ ♥. In the morning, I got a chance to watch the last part of the "LIVE" webcast and when the announcer said to the audiences to stand up for the National Anthem and Pledge, I actually stood up, sing the National Anthem and Pledge. Though I'm so far away but hey, I'm a Singaporean and I am proud of my country... ;)

Often, I would check out MamaFami's Fotopages for recipes. When I saw Mee Hailam Phalinn Ooi, it really looks good. Both MamaFami and Phalinn Ooi said it is easy and delicious. I just had to give it a try. Yes, indeed, it is delicious and easy. Thanks Phalinn Ooi and MamaFami for sharing the recipe. :))

 

Ingredients:

yellow noodles or spaghetti (used dry chinese style noodles)
beef fillet-sliced thinly, boil for 5 mins & keep the stock (not used) 

chicken fillet-sliced (cubed, boiled and used the stock)
onion-thinly sliced
garlic-chopped 

chicken cube
chilli powder (not used) 

oyster sauce 

sweet soya sauce

light soya sauce

tomato sauce (used tomato paste) 

vegetables (used cabbage and pre-cooked carrots)

fish ball (added) 

cornflour mixed with water-to thicken the gravy

vegetables oil for cooking 

Boil the noodles till soften. Drain and leave aside. Heat the oil in a wok and saute onion and garlic. Add the meat and fry for about 3 minutes. Add in the crushed chicken cube and chilli powder. Stir well. Pour the beef (chicken) stock. Add in oyster sauce, sweet soya sauce, light soya sauce and tomato sauce (paste). Stir well and let it boil. Add in eggs and vegetables. Pour in the cornflour mixture to thicken the gravy.
 

To serve : Put the noodles in a bowl, pour the gravy on top. Garnish with chopped spring onions and fried onions. 

Kickin Chicken

A recipe that I found from Better Homes and Gardens. Hubby loves it.  Served it over rice and fried cabbage on the sides.  Fast and easy dinner.. hehe... :))

Ingredients:

Non-cooking spray

8 chicken drumsticks

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced or 1 tsp bottled minced

2 tsp cooking oil

3/4 cup bottled BBQ sauce

1/4 cup ketchup

1/4 cup orange juice or water

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp light molasses or maple-flavored syrup

Lightly coat 15x10x1 inch baking pan with cooking spray. Skin chicken. Arrange chicken in prepared baking pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake in a 375 degrees F oven for 25 minutes.

For sauce, in a medium saucepan, cook garlic over hot oil medium heat for 30 seconds. Stir in BBQ sauce, ketchup, juice, brown sugar, molasses and if desired add hot pepper sauce. Heat throughly.

Carefully brush chicken with sauce. Turn chicken and brush additional sauce. Bake 20-25 minutes more until chicken is no longer pink (180 degrees F). Reheat any remaining sauce, drizzle over chicken.

Chicken chop - Mamak Style

Another favorite Indian Muslim food (also known as Mamak food)... Mutton Chop. I looked at my recipes books, unfortunately no recipe for mutton chop. I was surprised, I couldn't find many website for the mamak mutton chop recipe too. However, I found a blog that has mutton chop recipe. YAY!!! It would be nicer to have mutton but I cant get mutton so I used chicken breasts instead and I made a little changes. 

You'll need:

chicken breasts (used two)

chilli paste

tomato paste

tomato sauce 

sweet soy sauce

light soy sauce

brown sugar (can also use regular sugar)

ground coriander seeds

potatoes (wedges/fries)

peas

fried egg

lettuce

slices of tomato

*I do not have the exact measurement for this dish, its all estimation. 

I cut the chicken breast into bite-sized. Marinate the pieces with sweet soy sauce and light soy sauce for about 30 mins. Heat the oil in the large wok, fry the chicken. Remove and leave some of the oil in the wok. The secret to make a good chilli sauce for the dish is using the oil that was used frying the chicken. Then combine, chilli paste, tomato paste, tomato sauce, sweet soy sauce in the wok and sprinkle some brown sugar to taste. If you want it hot, add more chilli paste; more sweet, add sugar and soy sauce. When the sauce have simmer down, add a dash of ground coriander seeds. Just before you turned off the heat, mix the chicken together with the sauce. Serve with peas, fries, fried egg, lettuce and slices of tomatoes.

My chicken chop is served with steamed peas, baked diced potatoes and sweet potatoes and fried egg. I do not have lettuce and tomato in the refrigerator. I think I'll use the beef the next time... Have a good Thursday yall!! :)) 

Chicken Macaroni Soup

Simple, tasty and fills you up just by having one bowl of shredded chicken macaroni soup.. We often eat this soup during cold weather as it warms us up.  Although its getting warmer now here, I was in the mood of having some chicken macaroni soup. hehe... My version is suitable for hub as he doesn't really favor spicy food.. If you want it hot, add some chilli powder or soy sauce with fresh slices of the red/green chilli. yum*yum* :))

Ingredients:

200 gm macaroni - boiled until tender and drained

cooked shredded chicken

2 cloves garlic - peeled and mashed

4 cups water (or adequately)

1 potato - peeled and slice thinly-round

1 carrot - peeled and slice slant/round

1/2 cup peas

1 cube chicken essence

salt to taste

white and black pepper to taste
1 tbsp vegetable oil

chopped green onions and fried shallots for garnish

Heat oil in the pot. Saute garlic until golden. Add water, potatoes and chicken essence. Let boil for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, added the carrot. Let it boil another 10 minutes. Add salt, white and black pepper to taste. Turn to very low heat. Add macaroni and shredded chicken. Stir well. Then turn off heat and serve while it is hot. Garnish with green onions.

Hope you had a Good Friday and Happy Easter Day in advance!!!!!!

Chicken Rice (Hainanese Chicken Rice)

Our dinner tonight was home cooked Chicken Rice. Last night, as I was chatting with my sister, we decided to cook Chicken Rice for our better half.

After my first attempt to cook chicken rice had failed, I asked my girl friend in Virginia how she cooked hers. She taught and gave me her recipe. So this is my 2nd time to whip up the Singaporeans favorite dish. When I checked my pantry, I was worried because I have less than half a cup of long grain rice. But luckily I still have some of the Japanese rice and thought maybe I could try to use it for my Chicken rice...

In Singapore, you can find chicken rice anywhere at the hawker center or food court. It’s often called Singapore’s national dish. There are variations of this dish, which include the use of roasted instead of steamed chicken. (I prefer the roasted.) The dish is usually served with chilli sauce and dark soy sauce with slices of cucumber and tomato. The ingredients may looked a lot but it is simple and easy to make a nice delicious chicken rice. My ingredients and methods here are a little different from the authentic Hainanese Chicken Rice but it was real tasty and filling meal. My chicken rice is served with chilli and garlic dipping sauce, soup and a side dish of broccoli and carrot "chap choy"(mixed vegetables). *yum-yum*

Chicken Rice (recipe given by ms Z.S.)

Serves 2

Ingredients:

For the Broth :

4 chicken drumsticks plus 2 chicken thighs

water

2 cloves garlic + 2 clove garlic-minced

2-inch ginger

Marinate:

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp vegetable oil

Directions:

Place the chicken into a large pot and cover with water. Throw in garlic and ginger. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. (Retain the water that the chicken was cooked in.)

Remove chicken and marinate with minced garlic, light soy sauce, oyster sauce and honey for about 30 minutes.

When cooking the rice, heat the oil in the pan and pan-fry the marinated chicken until lightly browned. 

For the Rice :

1 cup rice - washed and drained

2 cups chicken broth

2 cloves garlic - peeled and smashed

1 medium onion - peeled and quarter

1-inch ginger - sliced

1 pandan leaves (screwpines leaves) - optional

1 tbsp of vegetable oil

salt to taste

Directions:

Heat the oil in a pot. Add the garlic and ginger and saute until fragrant. Add the rice, onion, pandan leaves and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer until the rice is tender, about 20 minutes.

For the Soup:

2 cups of chicken broth

1 tbsp of grind onion

1 stalk of green onion

a dash of white pepper

salt to taste

Directions:

Heat the oil in a small saucepan. Add the onion and saute until fragrant. Add chicken broth and green onion. Add white pepper and salt to taste. Let it simmer and remove from heat.

For the Special Chilli sauce:

Preferably use fresh chilli but it is very hard to get these chillies here so I used packet chilli sauce that has garlic in it.

4 tbsp chilli sauce with garlic

1-2 chicken broth

1 tsp vinegar

1 tsp sugar

In a small saucepan, dilute the chilli sauce with the chicken broth under a low heat. Add vinegar and sugar. Add salt if necessary.

The way I eat my chicken rice.... pour the chilli dipping sauce and a few spoonfuls of the soup... to the rice, tear up your chicken and yum-yum.. oooh lala... :))

Notes:

Skim and discard any residual fat/oil from the chicken broth before cooking the chicken rice.

Chicken Nasi Briyani

While I was talking to my mum, I asked her how she makes her Nasi Briyani... so with a pen and my recipe book next to me, I wrote down the recipe given to me.

Nasi is a malay word for Rice. Briyani or Biryani means fried or roasted. Briyani was brought to the Indian subcontinent by Muslim travelers and merchants. This dish is popular in South-East Asia and in Arabia and within many South-East Asian communities in Western countries.

This is my first home-made Nasi Briyani from scratch. The way my mom taught me different version, no roasted or in the oven at the last stage... I think its the faster version.. hehe... I used the regular white rice but it's better to use Basmati rice. Next time, I will make Beef Nasi Briyani using the Basmati rice with a different method.  

Ingredients:

2 cups of rice - soak at least 30 minutes
4 cups water
4 cloves
4 green cardamon
1 bayleaf
1 cinnamon stick
2 tbsp ghee (minyak sapi)
1-2 tsp of evaporated milk mixed with yellow coloring

Chicken Thick Sauce
2 chicken breast - cut in cubes
1/2 tsp minced ginger
3 cloves garlic
1 medium onion
1 tbsp curry powder
1/2 tsp chilli powder
3-4 candlenuts (buah keras)
1/2 cup coconut milk or yogurt
1 tbsp ghee or vegetable oil
salt to taste
fried shallots (bawang goreng) 
1-2 tsp evaporated milk
yellow/orange food coloring


Think Sauce:

In a food processor, blend onion, garlic, ginger, curry powder and chilli powder until fine. Add candlenuts and press pulse about 2-3 times (just to make the candlenuts coarsely). Heat large saucepan on medium to high heat. Saute the blended mixture until the oil separates. Add chicken meat, and fry for 5-6mins, keep stiring so they do not stick to the base. Add coconut milk and continue to cook on medium heat. Turn off heat when the chicken is cooked.

Rice:

Heat ghee in a large casserole. Saute cloves, green cardamon, bay leaf, cinnamon till fragrance until nice aroma comes out. Add water to boil. Then add the soaked rice to boiling water. Cook rice as how you cooked your regular rice. (when the rice is cooked and is not shiny enough, add a little more ghee to the rice)

Layering:
In a the same casserole, remove some rice so that you have one layer of rice on the bottom. Sprinkle about 1 tbsp teaspoon of the colored evaporated milk on the rice. Sprinkle some fried shallots (bawang goreng). Put the chicken meat in the middle. Cover with rice and sprinkle another tablespoon teaspoon of the colored evaporated milk and fried shallots. Repeat the layers with the same order. Serve immediately.

The dish may be served with Acchar, Malay Pickle or Raita. (I didnt make any of those instead I made potato cutlet (bagedil).. hehe)

Notes:

• For the thick sauce, you could make it dryer or have some gravy like I did mine, in the picture. 
• If you do not have fried shallots, you can use red onions, slice very thinly and fried until golden brown.

Enjoy!

Chicken Scrampi II

I thought today was the 13th and tomorrow is Valentine's Day. No special plans since it's just another day. From my  point of view, if we go out to eat at a restaurant, it could cost little more  (just like any other special occasion) and flowers could cost twice the price because so many people want to get flowers for their love ones.. I told my hubby no need to go out and no need buy flowers... I planned to cook something special..  hehe.. I planned to start with breakfast in bed,  skip lunch then dinner and last but not least the dessert.. So we went to the supermarket to get some of the items that I need..  When we got home, I overlooked one item from my list. So I asked my hubby, if he could go to the store tomorrow to get it for me so that I prepare for  special dinner tomorrow. He said "Why tomorrow??? Its 13th"  Then I insisted that tomorrow is the 14th... He showed me the calender... hahaha... I got confused with the dates again.. But I felt relief though because I still have another day to prepare my last minute DIY Valentine's card for him.. Lol!!

For us, this week is all about pasta. On Monday, we had Spaghetti Alfredo, Wednesday was Spaghetti in Tomato sauce (ground beef and mushroom) and today, its Vermicelli Chicken Scrampi II.  I saw the chicken scrampi recipe at Allrecipes and thought chicken scrampi would be nice with pasta. After carefully read through a great amount of reviews and I followed some good suggestions...

Chicken Scrampi II (Allrecipes)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp dried parsley

1 tsp dried basil

1/4 tsp dried oregano

4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

salt to taste

2 tbsp lemon juice

4 boneless chicken breast halves, cut into cubes

Green pepper, diced (optional) 

Parmesan cheese (optional)

Shredded cheese (optional)

In a skillet heat the butter and oil over medium high until the butter melts. Add the parsley, basil, oregano and garlic and salt and mix together in the skillet. Stir in lemon juice.

Then add the chicken and saute for about 3 minutes or until white. Lower the heat and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and the juices run clear. More butter can be added if needed. 

Notes: 

I boiled 7 oz vermicelli pasta, drained. Then mixed with chicken scrampi and also the Parmesan cheese at the last minute before removing from the heat. 

  

Quick and Easy Mexican Chicken

Dear Mr SUN, 

please come out... Its been so gloomy the past few days...  I want to go out and play.... Lol!!!

Well, here a quick and easy chicken recipe, Mexican style. Yummy!!!

Quick and Easy Mexican Chicken

By: Karen Taylor (Allrecipes) 

Ingredients: 

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1 cup salsa

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1 clove garlic, minced

1 pinch salt

1 pinch ground black pepper

1 pinch ground cumin

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Heat a greased skillet to medium. Rub chicken pieces with garlic, salt, pepper and cumin to taste and add to hot skillet. Cook until brown on both sides and no longer pink (10 to 15 minutes).
Transfer meat to 9 x 13 inch baking dish or casserole dish, top with salsa and cheese and bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 15 to 20 minutes (until cheese is bubbly and starts to brown.)

Serve over rice or buttered noodles. You like to drop some sour cream on the chicken too..  :)

Baked Teriyaki Chicken

This recipe is yummillious!!!!! After reading the reviews, I wanted to give it a shot by using this home-made teriyaki sauce, eventhough I have a bottle of teriyaki sauce(from the store) sitting in my refrigerator.... It is indeed delicious. It said it is healthier to remove the chicken skins but I preferred to have, more crispy.. hehe. Here, I used the bone-in thighs but you can use any part of the chicken meat to make this recipe. I also whipped up Summer Noodle Salad as a side dish to go with this main course. Next time, I will double the sauce. A few reviews said its fabulous on salmon. So gonna try that next time... This home-made teriyaki sauce is a keeper!!! 

Baked Teriyaki Chicken (Allrecipes)

Servings: 6 (For 2, see the quantity in bold)

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon cornstarch (1 tsp)

1 tablespoon cold water (1 tsp)

1/2 cup white sugar (2 tbsp + 2 tsp)

1/2 cup soy sauce (2 tbsp + 2 tsp)

1/4 cup cider vinegar (1 tbsp + 1 tsp)

1 clove garlic, minced (1/3 tsp)

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (1/8 tsp)

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper (1/8 tsp)

12 skinless chicken thighs (4) 

In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the cornstarch, cold water, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, ginger and ground black pepper. Let simmer, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens and bubbles.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

Place chicken pieces in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Brush chicken with the sauce. Turn pieces over, and brush again.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Turn pieces over, and bake for another 30 minutes, until no longer pink and juices run clear. Brush with sauce every 10 minutes during cooking. 

Notes:

• The recipe did not mention this.. Use a heavy duty foil on the baking dish otherwise you ended up with sticky black mess.
  
• Cover with foil for the first 30 minutes, remove foil, pour remainder of sauce over and bake another 20-30 minutes to keep the meat tender.
  

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.