"Ketam Kari"

it's been quite a while not posting new recipes. so i guess, it's worth the update... i don't know what recipe(s) to share actually. so i browsed through my food gallery. and here it is what i came up with, "Ketam Kari" recipe. bah, that is all... look for yourself below for the things you need to grab and how to prepare it. till next post...

...inda payah rasa, cium bau saja... - "master chef" BB

Ingredients:
washed, de-shelled, halved, fresh crabs
oil
blended dried red chilli
blended mixture of red onion, garlic and ginger
curry powder (mix with water)
water
tamarind
salt, msg and sugar to taste
beaten eggs
corn-flour (mix with water) to thicken

Method:
fry wok with a little oil. add in blended chilli and onions till golden brown. next, pour in curry powder that is mixed with water earlier. cook till fragrant. then, throw in water, a little bit of tamarind, and salt, msg and sugar to taste. note that, add more water to have more sauce, and add corn flour (must toss with water first before adding) to thicken the sauce. let the sauce to a boil. then add fresh crabs (if crabs were to be put in early before boiling, the crab meat would be too soft or "mashed". so try avoiding that). and make sure the crabs are soaked deep in the sauce. then wait again till the crab shells turn orange or else till sauce boils again. only add beaten eggs (in repeated circular motion) after you see the sauce bubbles. do not stir straight away once you put in the eggs. just wait...you'll see the eggs form in pieces in the sauce. then, finally, stir well. serve it while hot. if it's too spicy, add more sugar. in terms of low/medium/high heat...hmmm pandai-pandai adjust lah ah :P

"Egg Sweet Potato Salad with Cashew Nuts"

so lazy to prepare so much today... thus, i just made a quick and simple evening meal.

all you need is washed mixed salad, 1 hard-boiled egg and boiled small sweet potato (remove skin after cooked) and a few cashew nuts. mix all of them together in a bowl, and on serving, dress with 1/2 tablespoon (up to you how much) 99% fat-free, low-salt thousand island dressing.

a piece of cake!

...inda payah rasa, cium bau saja... - "master chef" BB

"CousCous Tossed With Veggie and Mushroom"

it took me the whole morning to think of what should i break my fast with later. i seriously really didn't know what to cook for my evening meal. i had something in mind this morning but at that moment, liur ku nada kan makan atu... so yeah, fikir punya fikir, finally i decided to make couscouslah... i said to self, "i've never tried this even once, so might as well attempt at cooking it lah". so here it is, couscous toss with veggie and mushroom. oklah couscous ani... if i added salt, msg, fennel seeds and cumin seeds tadi, berasa lagi lah but i didn't, instead i just seasoned it with white pepper and vegeta chicken stock. i think it is best served with beef or chicken curry but i'm happy to have it with BBQ parsley chicken breast (see previous post for recipe: BBQ Parsley Chicken Wrap)

so here goes the couscous... add 1/2 cup water to a pot and bring it to a boil. season with white pepper. keep aside for a while. then, add 1/2 cup san remo couscous to the boiling water. give it a stir and cover the pot for 3 minutes. heat the pot again over low heat to separate the grain. or if it's too complicated, simply, just follow the instructions on the packet. you can add turmeric powder to give it a bit of a yellowish colour but i didn't as i forgot to put!

heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in a pot over high heat. throw in 1 clove chopped garlic, 1/4 chopped red onion, 3 cloves, 1 cardamon seed and 1/2 cinnamon quill. give it a constant stir-fry till golden brown. then, drizzle it with white pepper and vegeta chicken stock to taste. chuck in mushroom and blended red chilli (just a little). continue stir-frying. then add diced/chopped carrot, zucchini, red capsicum, celery stalk, and corn kernel to a pot followed by cooked couscous, and stir to toss. finally, stir through spinah until just wilted. after removing from heat, sprinkle some parsley flakes and chopped coriander leaves, to garnish.

that's the healthy couscous recipe for people on a diet but those who just want to maintain weight, i personally think you can give a variety by seasoning it with (kinda a repetition of what was said earlier), salt, msg, fennel seeds, cumin seeds, and whatever sauces you wanna put in. i'm sure it will be more scrumptious and full of taste. just a reminder, it's the veggies that make a dish look more appetizing (and healthy too), and if you have tossed the correct combination of veggies besides right, healthy seasonings and garnishes, you'll get a good taste... wah!!! banarkah tu aku ah... but hey... as for myself, i reckon it's true ah from what i've experienced so far...

...inda payah rasa, cium bau saja... - "master chef" BB

temporary post for amusement....

Pebbly & Poo Productions :P

"Chicken Veggie Mee Hoon Soup"

this morning was my weigh in day. i stepped up on the scale and then yay!!! i shed another few kilos, in fact more than expected. so again yay! so so happy...

moving on... as today is first day of Ramadhan, a while ago, i broke my fast with chicken veggie mee hoon soup.

boil broccoli, cauliflower, carrot and bok choy for a while until just tender. soak mee hoon in hot water, drain and set aside. for the soup, add water to a pot and let it boil. then add chicken breast, crushed garlic and ginger (put as much as you want), cinnamon quill, cardamon seeds, cloves, less than or half cube chicken stock and white pepper to taste.

the soup is purposely prepared like that as i'm trying to make a healthy chicken soup without oil, salt and msg. i know it probably won't taste as nice as the usual tasty chicken soup, but hey it wasn't bad at all 2 hours ago. so siapa2 on diet atu jua, you can try this one lah jua...

almost forgot, for the mee hoon. i managed to find 99% fat free mee hoon. and it only has 10mg per 100g sodium. i compared this with other brands and to my surprise, mee hoon is actually high in sodium. needless to say more. luckily i could find that one. oh yea, and... it's gluten free also. not that i can't have gluten in my diet. i just feel like to mention it here for completion. hehe. so next time, health-conscious people, go for trident rice vermicelli!

on a side note, for those who haven't known this fact yet, when you are comparing NIP from one brand to another, you must actually look at the second column (i.e. per 100g) and not the first column (i.e. per serve). so there you go... hope this helps in controlling what brand item you would go for in the future.

...inda payah rasa, cium bau saja... - "master chef" BB

"Mini Ramadhan Bazaar"

had a meeting with OTP crew last Saturday. the poster on the left column entails what it's all about. we're just a bunch of students who usually like to M&M but this time, as most of the OTP crew are on one week holiday, we'd like to organise a mini ramadhan bazaar specifically for those in brisbane. it's just a small one. nothing big. but we all are kinda excited and so cannot wait for this event. and not forgetting, we all are looking forward to seeing those who are attending as well. anyways, the food listed on the poster are the confirmed ones to be sold this coming saturday but there's probably kuih-muih you can buy also on the day itself but don't count on that. we're not sure yet.. that is all from us.

...Selamat Berpuasa...

"Grilled Turmeric Prawn with Chickpea Salad

bought 6 banana prawns last friday. just 6 prawns! can u believe? haha! and it cost me AUD$3. if i'm not mistaken it was AUD $14 per kilo. i know it is high in cholesterol but terseliurku. bukan selalukan... so that's why i just bought a few. kata orang supaya inda kempunan :P

i did mention in my previous post that i wanted to have wholemeal mustard chicken with spinach salad for today's dinner but i guess i'll prepare that one next time. i'm actually sick of chicken! nah! kidding. chicken breast is good!

so yeah... for tonight's meal, i made turmeric prawn. usually, i like to stir-fry prawns but now, i go for grilled prawns. also, i didn't wanna serve it with rice just now, so i made chickpea salad. nice healthy meal again tonight. and it's very quick to prepare!

...inda payah rasa, cium bau saja... - "master chef" BB

Ingredients:
3 pieces uncooked banana prawns, deshelled, leaving the tails intact
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon blended red chilli
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon mixture of crushed garlic and ginger
black pepper, to taste
parsley flakes
1 can 125g edgell chickpeas, drained
3 tablespoons corn kernels
1/4 hass avocado, diced
3 cherry tomatoes, cut into 4,
1/4 big red onion, sliced

Method:
Coat the prawns with olive oil and then add dried chilli, crushed garlic and ginger, black pepper and parsley flakes. preheat the oven for 2 minutes. grill the prawns for 10 minutes (5 minutes for each side) or till there's a change in colour. keep it aside after cooked. combine chickpeas, corn kernels, avocado, cherry tomatoes and onion on a serving plate and then top it with grilled prawns.

"BBQ Parsley Chicken Wrap"

yesterday was another healthy day for me. there were many temptations but i managed to resist. am so happy about that :))) and oh yea, i've been doing so so well with my diet too. i'm also very delighted with the amount of weight i lost in the first two weeks of my diet. it's so unbelievable. i guess i'm eating right this time but i just need to exercise more. am so gonna continue this good effort till i finally reach my targeted weight of which i won't reveal here. LOL

back to the real deal... the recipes posted today are, i shall say, superbly simple.

this was my breakfast yesterday - a bowl of weet-bix with 99% fat-free fresh milk, topped with sliced strawberries for extra flavour. actually, i prefer bananas over strawberries as they naturally taste sweeter and blend so well with weet-bix. some people like to add brown sugar but i don't.


for yesterday's dinner, i made BBQ parsley chicken wrap saluted with mixed salad (zucchini, carrot, celery stalk, cabbage, cherry tomatoes, bak choy and red onion).

To Make BBQ Parsley Chicken:
first cut into strips. then microwave till just cooked or it turns white. microwave to me is good in a way that the natural oil in the chicken itself can be extracted. after that, make sure to wash the chicken strips before coating them with 1/2 tablespoon masterfoods BBQ sauce. sprinkle some parsley flake as well. no salt or msg needed. then grill the chicken strips till firm or to your liking - 5-10minutes. after switching the oven off, i purposely leave the chicken in there for a while.

tomorrow i'm thinking of preparing wholemeal mustard chicken with spinach and corn salad for dinner. hmmm... maybe, maybe not. i'll see tomorrow. hahaha. nowadays, i enjoy adding some variety to my dinner meals (only dinner meals as i'm fine having the same breakfast everyday).

...inda payah rasa, cium bau saja... - "master chef" BB

"Lemon Pepper Grilled Mackerel & Mixed Veggie Salad"

i've been on a diet for almost 2 weeks now as i really need to shed a few kilos. been living a healthy lifestyle by embracing healthy breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner lately. eating at least 5 serves of veggies and 2 fruits in a day (as commonly recommended), consuming heaps of water, and exercising (nah! will be active starting next week). so yeah, recently, i'm into healthy recipes and thus, in this OTP, you'll see more healthy recipes from me. i'll try my best to update every night *cia karang!* hahaha. oh yea, bear in mind, i'll still put the not-so-healthy recipes here too.

today, i had lemon pepper grilled mackerel served with mixed veggie salad for dinner.

just coat the mackerel well with a tablespoon of olive oil. transfer the fish on a foil-baking tray. grill to your liking. 5 minutes before taking it away, sprinkle some Woolworths lemon-pepper seasoning on both sides. give it a lemon squeeze and some parsley flakes on serving. no salt and msg added at all yet it's still tasty.

a salad of 8 serves of veggies - spinach, red capsicum, corn kernels, celery stalk, cherry tomatoes, bak choy, carrot and zucchini. you can add 99% fat-free/light and low/no salt dressings or mayonnaises to the boring, bland taste salad. a tablespoon (as usually recommended per serving) is enough to give the salad some zest.

there you go my dinner for tonight. choices of fruits today include an orange, a pear and two strawberries. wow! plenty of fruits and veggies! i'm impressed with myself and i feel so much healthier now :)))

...inda payah rasa, cium bau saja... - "master chef" BB

"Potatuna Pasta"

Hi, there's more from me..! This following recipe actually cuba2 and main2 antam ganya.. but I thought I'd share it sajalah.. I bet no-one in this foodblog team (crew?) would doubt my passion for noodles & pastas.. Asal ke restaurant makan mi.. and at home I cook pasta.. Ish3x.. Anyway, here it is.. very, very simple..

...kul brapa start makannya ni?... the not-so-chefly-one

Ingredients:

Any kind of durum wheat pasta (I prefer the spiral & elbow types I even mix them together!)
Canned tuna
Dolmio's Tuna Pasta Bake sauce
1 potato
McCormick Italian Herb Potatoes seasoning
Mozarella cheese

How I did it:
Boil the pasta & strain.. Also boil the potato until a bit soft.. Take a baking dish and add in tuna and the baking sauce.. Then add in the boiled pasta and you mix them thoroughly.. Then sprinkle a reasonable amount of mozarella cheese over the well-mixed pasta. The thicker the yummier :). (Oh yeah, before doing that you might wanna pre-heat the oven to 200 deg C).

The potato part I got the idea from master chef BB (hehe..). So for this one.. you peel off the skin and cut them to thin slices.. Then you sprinkle some of the McCormick seasoning onto it and place them gracefully on top of the mozarella cheese covering the pasta. So once all of that is done, put it into the pre-heated oven & wait for 15-20 minutes.. or simply just watch out for the cheese to turn to slightly brown in colour..

And there you go.. all done!