POTTERing around

I guess I don't need to say much as enough has been said in the world wide web, newspapers etc. Potter here, Potter there, Potter everywhere.

Just like the average kiasu (translated to: scared to lose) Malaysian, I got caught up in the hype. Honestly, I knew the book was coming out in July a long time ago (who can ignore the buntings and posters in major bookstores enticing you to actually PRE-ORDER), but I wasn't really that bothered... until the last few days to the world wide release.

Good grief.

It's POTTER MANIA!!!

I don't know what came over me but i just couldn't wait. EVERYone was talking about it - the internet was full of stories covering this last book - Rowling's comments, reader's comments, online bookstores 'accidentally' releasing the books, spoilers, etc.. I actually searched and scanned through papers and the internet to read more! Advertising even in the last few days sure builds up the hype that's one thing i gotta say. The big, mean hypermarts even jumped in, taking advantage of the situation and knocking down the price to RM69.90 vs the recommended retail price of RM109.90. Hey! Even the first few Harry Potter books were going for as low as RM19.90! I bought them at double the price!! Grrrrr. So the 4 major bookstore chains is Malaysia made a stand.

Price drama aside, its pretty obvious I spent the whole Sunday at home trying to finish the book. Its a massive 607 pages.... I managed to finish 500+ by end of the day, packed it to work the next day and read before 9am (ahem) and continued during lunch (ahem - i work seriously during my working hours) then rushed home and finished the rest. Some ppl I know finished the whole book in 5 hours straight. Jeepers. Can a person actually do that? Maybe they did speed reading.. or just jumped to the last 100 pages.

After finishing the book, I must say that I actually experienced a feeling of err... emptiness? sadness? I don't know what you call it. No don't worry, the ending isnt sad. It's just that I've been reading Potter all thru the 7 books and i think the story is pretty amazing. Now, just like that, snap! it's ended. Booo hoooo :(

I've really enjoyed reading all the 7 books. What a journey. There's nothing quite like having a good read and getting lost in the story for a bit (not escapism here). It's just like a good movie, where in those few precious hours, I actually felt like I was standing right there, being part of a great story unfolding.

Man.

Good old Minced Pork, Potatoes & Mushrooms

Whoopsie, haven't had much time to plan my cooking for the week... So ended up cooking regular dishes... nothing unique or new. But sometimes, we just wanna have good old tried and tested recipes yeah? :)

This is one of my favourite dishes. Easy to cook, using very common ingredients. I like pork, potatoes and oyster mushrooms so I just throw them all together in this dish *grin*. I'm pretty sure there are many better or correct ways to cook this style but this is my style!

Minced pork - not very healthy coz you don't really know what goes into the mince but oh well.. Add salt, pepper, sesame oil and some cornstarch. Leave for about 5-10 minutes. Slice up potatoes and lightly stir fry until edges are slightly browned. Set aside. Use the oil and stir fry some garlic, then add the pork. Break them up into pieces. Add oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, water and some cornstarch to thicken the sauce. Add oyster mushrooms and the potatoes. Simmer for a bit until potatoes are soft.

Yum when eaten with rice :)

Lemon-Butter Garlic Sauce

After the previous disastrous attempt with pork Chinese style, I needed to build my confidence back before I totally give up on cooking :P. I ear-marked or more accurately, web-marked this site last weekend to try with the salmon steak in my freezer. Looked pretty easy and I was keen to try different sauces for my favourite fish :)

Doesnt the sauce sound simply divine in its simplicity?

I got it from Elise Simply Recipes - one of the new sites I added to my favourites list. Its a great sauce to accompany your favourite seafood.

Recipe:
- 1/2 cup clam juice (goodness wat's this? I used Know chicken cubes hee hee)
- 1/2 cup dry sherry (er, i omitted this but i read that it should be ok to substitute with white wine)
- 1/2 cup whole milk (this i have!)
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic ( i used a lot more )
- 1 Tbsp minced shallots (this too)
- 1/2 bay leaf (Substituted with dried Parsley)

- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 Tbsp flour

- 3/4 pounds unsalted butter

- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice

Me being me after coming back from work and starving, didnt follow the measurements. Just went by ear. I guess when it comes to cooking, the exact measurements arent really that necessary to follow. I usually just taste and go along. Mentally converting cup measurements to gms and mls just puts me off - arrggghhh no figures without calculators or my excel please! haha ( I dont have a proper cup measurer yet..)

Reduce first 6 ingredients and cook on medium heat. In another pan, prepare the roux.
(I'm learning a new word everytime I blog. Before you pronounce it in your head as it spells, stop! Its pronounced as 'rue'. Roux is apparently the basis of 3 of the MOTHER sauces in French classical cooking. Wow, my hubby better appreciate this sauce. High class stuff going on here. hee hee)
Sorry back to where I was. How to prepare the basis of a Mother French sauce! Heat 1 Tbsp butter in a saucepan on medium heat until foamy. Sprinkle in the flour and stir with metal whisk until well combined. Be careful not to brown/burn the mixture.
Add reduced mixture to the roux, stir quickly to incorporate. This was fun. As Elise said, the roux bubbled up at this point. Continue adding and whisking to incorporate.
Lower heat. Whisk in the last batch of butter, add lemon juice, salt and pepper

For the salmon, I just rubbed it with a bit of pepper and salt, wrapped in aluminium foil and popped it into a preheated oven for 10 mins.

Rating: 7.5/10 from me! I'll be trying out with sherry if it isnt too expensive in the near future :)


Lots of leftover. Hubby doesnt quite appreciate salmon goodness knows why, so I'm having his share for lunch tomorrow.

A Whole Pot of Pork

down the drain...

boo hoo... i was so optimistic that my Char Yoke dish would come out okay. My mother-in-law bought the right cut of pork for me, dried black fungus plus the reddish bean sauce. Everyone has been telling me its easy to make, I dont even need to do slow braising.

Never has anything turned out so horrendously wrong wrong wrong. Then again, I fare pretty badly when it comes to Chinese dishes. Sigh... totally demotivated. I don't know what went wrong but the whole thing came out so salty! I only seasoned the meat with a bit of pepper and salt. And just a teaspoon or less into the entire pot but when i tasted it - it was horrible! I pushed the panic button and kept adding hot water. Wrong move! The whole thing still came out salty and tasteless. Gross.... URgh.

Thank god MIL had extra briyani and kurma or hubby and I would have starved to death tonight.

No photos this round. Just can't bring myself to deceive myself even though I'm pretty sure /i could hv taken some pretty good shots.

Ratha Chicken Curry

I'm sure many of you have heard of this place. Whenever hubby and I are free or if i havent exceeded my petrol allowance (heh) or if it gets really hot, we'll take a drive up to Gohtong Jaya for the cool air AND for Ratha's famous chicken curry.

Ratha curry style is thin and soupy but it packs a WALLOP! Every spoonful is flavourful and spicy (and slightly on the salty side), and it goes great with rice or roti canai. Hubby will keep scooping the curry and we end up fighting for the last few spoonfuls! If we could lick the bowl dry, i think we would! haha! The chicken meat is pretty tender but this varies, we've found it to be dry sometimes.

The chicken curry costs ~ RM3.80 per piece and it comes with lots and lots of gravy as they know ppl love to flood their food with it :) They are also famous for Fish Head curry but hubby and I find it just so-so.

Ratha's original branch is in Raub old town.

Broccoli, Asparagus & Pork Pasta

Weekends are way to short. I wish we only had to work 4 days instead of 5. Those who work 6-day weeks, that's really really sad.. To me, relaxing is having an ENTIRE day, all 24 hours of it with absolutely nothing to do except eat, sleep, maybe try out a new recipe, watch my favourite series and read blogs. Heh. It would be so productive.

Today is horrible, dreaded Monday, which explains how I started the way I did. Thank goodness its almost over. Once you get through Mondays, you look forward to Wednesdays and then the week really starts to look BRIGHTER. That's how i get through my weeks... every week. Don't get me wrong. I like my job but it takes up 10-12 hrs of my day and that's a lot of time to do something you gotta do. But, a job's a job and it brings in the dough for me to do the things I wanna do so o-k-a-y.... I shall bear with it.. for the next 25 years... urgh.

Onwards to more cheerful topics! I can proudly say I whipped up my very own pasta dish this time round! Totally originaI. I bought a bunch of asparagus the other day. This is an interesting veg. Did you know an asparagus spear can grow up to 10 inches in 24 hours? WOW! I'll bet lotsa ppl would wanna learn its growth secret. hee hee.

Tips on picking asparagus - the larger the diameter, the more tender it is. Go for those with firm spears and compact tips.

I had brocolli in my fridge and a can of luncheon meat (very useful - a must in every kitchen). Heated up some olive oil, pan fried the luncheon meat till just slightly burnt at the sides. Set aside. In the same pan, saute the asparagus and broccoli for a few mins. Add in the luncheon meat, a dash of sea salt and pepper. Cook pasta till al dente in a pot of boiling water with salt. Toss together and Voila! A perfectly healthy meal.

Verdict: 7/10! Luncheon meat tastes better than bacon or ham any day!

Honey Sauce Chicken

This recipe is from famous Amy Beh at Kuali.

Recipe:
- chicken wings (i used thighs coz i have not tried cooking with this cut yet, yea can u imagine?)
- garlic
- shallots (omited coz didnt hv any)
- ginger
- 3–4 cili padi or bird’s eye chillies (substituted with red chillies)
- oil
- toasted sesame seeds (omited this as well hee hee)

Marinade
-1 tbsp ginger juice
-1 tbsp oyster sauce
-1 tbsp light soy sauce
-¼ tsp salt
-½ tsp pepper
-1 tsp sugar

Honey sauce – (combined)
-1 tbsp oyster sauce
-2 tbsp light soy sauce
-4 tbsp honey
-2 tbsp sugar
-1 tsp salt
-1 tsp pepper
-150ml water

Massage chicken well with marinade. Leave overnight.

Deep-fry chicken until golden brown. (i pan fried instead which isnt such a good idea but i really didnt want to eat deep fried food)

Heat wok with oil, saute shallots, ginger and garlic. Add in chillies and pour in combined honey sauce ingredients. Bring to a boil.

Return pre-fried chicken to the wok. Cover and cook over low heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until sauce is reduced.

Garnish with a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds.

Verdict: The sauce was excellent!!! Hubby and I give it a 7/10.

It was very flavourful, with just the right hints of sweetness from the honey, followed by a spicy tinge from chillies and pepper, well rounded off by the oyster sauce. Mmm mmmm....(sounds like me doing my job describing fragrances). I kept scooping up the ginger and garlic pieces which were soaked in the sauce. yum! Prepare for stinkbombs tomorrow everyone! Heh.

The chicky however was grossly bloody... grrr that's why I hate cooking chicken with bones. If you noticed, most of my other dishes use chicken fillets or chicken breast meat. I can never get it right with a chick and its bones. It is just because its undercooked? Mom! How to avoid bloody chickies? Do I just need to cook it until its really well done?

Brussels Sprouts & Leek?

Was thinking of a new veg to cook and brussels sprouts came to mind! I love these little green balls! They resemble mini cabbages don't they? And they have such a vibrant green colour that makes my picture look good haha!

Surfed around for ways to cook. hmmm looks like the common ang moh style is to steam them. This method will help prevent overcooking as they will turn bitter and release sulphur when overcooked. I decided to do a quick stir fry with leeks. Can you imagine - 10 years ago i would have made a face at such a combination... yelch. (Brussels sprout was once Britain's most hated vegetable, I don't know about leeks though)

However, I think age or maturity helps you to learn to appreciate the different aspects of things in life, in this case brussels sprouts. ahem. (my hubby didn't like the dish so that's saying sumthin heee)

There were some recipes that combined these 2 vegetables together so it shouldnt go so bad. I just cut the leek into thin slices, stir fried them, then added the halved brussels sprouts. Add salt to taste. Dish them up quickly when the sprouts turn a brighter green or suffer the taste of sulphur! Cooking certainly has its hazards.

Some tips: When selecting, go for small sprouts with tight heads. Apparently small sprouts are more tender and the tight head indicate freshness. Also, cut of a bit of the base off and discard the outer, older leaves.

Verdict: Not bad (6.5/10). The leek gave a slight meaty taste - I'm not sure if it does that when its stir-fried though. And the brussels sprouts were slightly bitter and sweet. I didnt get the nutty flavour which they say comes out when its cooked correctly. I do like its crunchy texture and felt a sense of satisfaction that i was doing a big favour to my bowel movement (its green and leafy and high in fibre)

Potato Chow Down!

Tell me one person you know who doesnt like potatoes. They gotta be weird. Hahah!
Everyone loves potatoes! They're super versatile, tastes great fried, baked, mashed, boiled; in creamy or clear soups, curries, stir-fries, the list goes on!

This recipe is originally called Rustic Potato Chowder from 101 cookbooks.

Recipe:
8 to 10 slices Bacon
extra-virgin olive oil
2 onions,
chopped 3 shallots, (whoops, didnt hv this so i just omited it)
chopped 4 cloves garlic,
chopped 4 cups diced potatoes
salt & pepper
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
4 cups milk
1 cup Gruyere cheese, grated (i substituted with Parmesan)

Pan fry bacon until browned and crispy. Cool and chop into small pieces. Put aside.
Heat up the olive oil and saute the onions, shallots, and garlic for 5 mins, or until the onions start to get soft.
Add potatoes and a teaspoon of salt and saute for ~ 2 mins.
Add mustard and milk. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 25 minutes, or until the soup thickens and the potatoes are soft.
Throw in the cheese, another dash of salt and pepper.
Sprinkle with the bacon.

You can also make this into a pot pie. Roll out some Pampas pastry, cut into desired size and cover your little bowl with it. Poke several air vents for the steam to escape. Pop into oven and wait eagerly for it to turn a golden brown. :)

Rating: Hubby said 7/10! I say problie 6/10 coz the milk taste was a bit overpowering... I used HL milk so maybe its taste is a bit strong. Also, the potatoes were quite a lot and as I made this on a Sunday and put into the fridge for the next day's dinner, the liquids were kinda soaked up by the potatoes so there wasn't enough 'soup' or should I say 'sauce'. I may add some chicken stock to counter the 'milky' taste and problie chicken bits for more 'texture' to the soup.

The pot pie I like best is Dome's Chicken and Mushroom pie.. , but it is soOOoo expensive. I remember the good old days when it was ~ RM17.. now its RM22 or 25. !!! hmph. this is another driving factor for me to cook my own food. Prices are just escalating everywhere.

Chocolate Banana Cake

I love this picture!

What are the odds of my hubby coming home and looking around expectantly, popping his head into this picture just as I was snapping it? *grin* The best thing i like about the the pix is it really says a lot about my hubby HAHAaha (he hardly reads my blog so i'm pretty safe here heeeee) He's always snooping and sniffing around when I'm cooking, pinching here and there and always enthusiastic to try anything I whip up. He's my number one fan! (or victim hee hee). I think I like to cook coz I like to feed him and see that satisfied look on his face when his tummy is stuffed.

I'm still trying variations of Chocholate cake recipes. This recipe is from Baking 911. It's suppose to be a 'sinfully rich and moist cake'.

Recipe:
Dry ingredients:
2 cups flour
Whole-grain wheat pastry flour (couldnt find this anywhere so I just used all purpose)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients:
1 cup lightly mashed bananas ( I used pisang emas)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup lowfat buttermilk (I substituted with 1 cup milk + 1 teaspoon lemon juice)
1 large egg
2 large egg whites
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius. Grease cake tin.
Mix dry ingredients in a medium bowl. In another bowl, with a hand held mixer, beat the wet ingredients for about 1 minute, until frothy.
Pour wet ingredients into the dry and quickly combine with a large spoon. Do not overmix.
Pour into cake tin and bake for about 25 minutes.
Cool in pan on wire cake rack for 10 minutes before removing.

I STILL have not mastered the art of baking. SIGH. It seems that once you get something right, something else goes wrong! This time my cake rose properly with very minimal cracks. Hurrah! I was pretty happy coz my past cakes had crackes and peaks - very volcano looking :(

It looked a bit dense, not velvety and crumbly when I sliced thru. I think it's coz I didnt use the specified flour. Apparently whole wheat pastry flour is low- gluten so it can give a more tender outcome. Oh dear, I always find these things out the hard way :(.

The taste also wasnt as banana-rish as I liked. My bananas were pretty ripe so it could be the type of banana I used. Maybe next time I'll try the large Montel kind. Hmmm and it wasnt sweet enough. Clever old me cut down about 1/4 of the sugar coz I read other banana cake recipes where ppl commented that they cut down on the sugar and the cakes still came out just right. So I thought to cut down here as well coz the bananas would be pretty sweet already. Anyway, I sprinkled icing sugar on the cake and this gave it the sweetness it needed.

All in all I give myself only 5/10 until I try again with the proper ingredients.