Homemade Chicken Burger II

After spending two weeks with my youngest Piggy Joshua , I realized that my boy has really grown into a young adult.  A matured young adult ! and it just tells me that I am going downhill and my time with my kids and hubby has shortened.  It reminded me that it is not how much time I still have with them but how much quality time I spend with them . Now that he has gone back to college and starting his 3rd year second semester....I feel an emptiness that I can't explained. I thought baking and cooking and watching HK dramas will fill up the emptiness but nope I still miss my babies...one still in UK and one in KL :(

Baked Chicken Fillets In Papilotte

Shallots and ginger are the main key ingredients in this recipe and with these ingredients rubbed onto the chicken fillets and marinated with oyster sauce and sesame oil... gosh ...you can imagine how fragrant this combo would be ! :)  Wonderful burst of flavors and no wonder my family love them prepared this way. Wrapped them in papilotte and baked for 20 minutes...juicy and moist tender chicken fillets with the wonderful aroma trapped in the papilotte to whet one's appetite.  A wonderful treat for Josh before he goes back to college.  The other version is to wrap them in greaseproof paper and deep fried them in a wok. But for health reason I baked them instead  :)  

Stir Fry Organic Pea Sprouts With Enokitake And Ham

Organic Pea sprouts are the highly nutritious sprouts of the organic peas.  Loaded with vitamins and essential minerals and nutrients ...mmmm I don't mind chewing this everyday though with so much goodness in it. I can eat this raw in my sandwiches .....very greenish in taste but when you think of the vitamins and minerals you can get out of them you won't mind  the green taste :)) but Daddy would prefer to have it stir fry so I came out with this dish...added enoki and chicken ham strips to it...a carnivore can never be a herbivore :p

Herb Roasted Potato

If not for the medical advise, I would prefer taking potato daily instead of rice.  I love potato since young, potatoes in chicken curries , in curry puffs , mashed potatoes, potato croquettes and of course potato fries :))  Potatoes are basically bland so they need some herbs and spices to make them delicious. They contain lots of starch which is not good for me but I do eat at random when I have roasts for dinner. I  will have one or two in place of a bowl of rice. Herb roasted potato is one of my favourite sides when I am serving western food to the family. There are two more members who shared the same passion for potatoes....wild boar and piggy gal ! :))  This herb roasted potato is so flavorful that you can snack on it while watching your favourite TV programmes. It is so much healthier than snacking on fries :p

Pan Seared Cod In ' Stinking Rose' Flavored Oil

Cods are best cooked in the most simplest form. Pan seared or steamed would bring out their natural sweetness and their mild flavor made them popular among fish lover.  I would normally pan seared them with garlic or stinking rose flavored oil. Needless to say, it taste good but every bite is a bite into a piece of gold for this piece of cod cost me RM20.40 . In the United Kingdom, they are commonly use for fish and chips and you can guess how much Joanna has taken since she arrived in UK . It is cheap over there so she can indulge in them daily :p This is Josh's favourite...mine too ! Why is garlic called ' stinking rose " ?

Tricolore Fusilli Aglio Olio With Streaky Bacon

Just mention pasta and visions of Italy immediately spring to mind  :) Joanna next destination will be Italy ( she is touring Europe now....wow...imagine all the authentic pasta she will get to taste from there with lots of cheese on them...mmmm I need to brush up my skill in cooking pasta or else she will start to compare :( 

Pasta comes in many different form and shapes. Dried pasta are easily valiable in the market while the fresh ones are only available in restaurants .  They are made from durum wheat flour , water, salt and sometimes egg. Some shapes are especially suited to a particular sauce. They are so versatile, you can pair them off with different sauces and they will still blend well :))  Some basic sauces for pasta are listed below.

Pan Fried Salmon Steak With Red Wine Sauce

Piggy Joshua is back for his semester break ( yay ! two whole weeks ) and I am back to cooking all his favourite food :)  Away from home a whole semester, he missed homecooked food especially fish , pasta and burgers...I am most happy when my Piggies are back for their holidays :) I miss Joanna though....can't wait for her to be back .  

He is most pampered when he is back for his holidays and I am sure he loves coming back for homecooked food.  His Dad will take him out for breakfast , for the Ipoh famous beef noodles and curry noodles and when I am back home from work , I will pamper him with homecooked goodies....from dinner to supper to snacks.  Lucky for him , I just finished watching a drama series or he will have to eat less one meal :p

I pan fried salmon with salt and black pepper and make a red wine sauce to go with it . Added fresh King Oysters mushrooms as a side ....a perfect salmon dish I would say and mmmmm the red wine sauce was a perfect sauce for this salmon. Great combo !  

Sharkfin Melon Treasure

I saw this recipe from one of my asian dishes cookbook. And being someone who loves to cook something different from daily mundane dishes, I was quick to take the opportunity to try it out during one of the weekend.  I bought one medium sized sharkfin melon and gathered whatever ingredients I have in the fridge and managed to make something delicious out of them :p  Read on for the recipe :)

Roasted Asparagus With Caramelized Onions And Crab Meat Topping

I have been roasting chicken legs quite frequently for our dinner and I like making side dishes for our roasts . Be it potatoes or greens, I will try my best to whip out something nice out of them for the both of us. Asparagus is one of our favourite greens and instead of blanching them , I roasted them this time with onion rings and topped them with crab meat marinated with balsamic vinegar. This is a delicious side dish to go with our roasts.  I always frequent the wet market for crab claws and will take out the meat for dishes like this :) The natural sweetness of the asparagus blends with the balsamic vinegar marinated crab meat.

English Roast Chicken Leg

Being the ' Chef ' in the Piggies' Residence is not an easy job after all. I have to think of great menus and yet have to make sure it is a balance diet for all members :p Well. you may think w t h  :p  how hard is it for just the two of us ! Haha , I am can be fussy and choosy at times ( shhhh...in the menopausing era )  not to say the ' wild boar Lordship ' is another one factor...not that he is choosy, but he likes western food more than chinese food so I have to think ' western ' when preparing food for ourselves...weird right ?  Give him any roasts and he will be happy.  Yesterday dinner was this english roast that he likes. Simple to prepare and yet yummilicious !  Huh...if he is not happy with this, I will roast him instead ! that was what I told him last night LOL!

Stir Fry Sabah Snake Beans With Dried Shrimps

Snake beans are from the long beans family. They have wrinkled and thicker texture compared with the normal long beans. They originated from Sabah and I love it for its crunchy texture. You can stir fry them with just garlic and sea salt and you can taste the natural sweetness of the bean.  I stir fried them with  dried shrimp paste ( belacan ) , chilli paste and dried shrimps and lots of garlic and gosh, it was one appetizing veggie dish and the crunchy texture makes it even more good :)  I can eat this with just a bowl of piping hot rice...yummy!

Pizza Salad With Olive Lemon Vinaigrette

Yesterday was a public holiday and I took the opportunity to bake fish in papilotte again and at the same time make some  Pizza Salad  to go with it. I am very much inspired by Barry C. Parsons of  Rock Recipes .His blog is really inspirational and I love every piece of recipe there . And this is one example of a good pizza recipe. He makes salad on flatbread and pizza base !  Very creative and refreshing. Thanks , Barry , for this wonderful idea to serve salad on pizza crust !  Pizza salad can be served as a starter course or light lunch or dinner but I served it together with my baked fish . Needless to say we had a wonderful dinner . While all malaysians are out celebrating the nation's Independence Day at restaurants, both Daddy and I had our meal at home :)