The Excitement Over a Chicken...

Remember my new toy by the hubby? On Saturday, we started using it seriously by putting in the whole chicken. You know when you buy something, the sales person was so good in selling their wares that you are unaware of the real fact. The man was mentioning about how to prepare the whole chicken where the meat was so tender. It was like making steam chicken just that you're not using steam for this one. By the way, that's my new Mdm. Yeap's cast iron dutch oven. The method was really simple according to the seller. Just fill up the cover with water. When the water on the cover has completely dried up, the chicken inside would be done. Nobody asked how long would the whole process take so I assumed it should be roughly around 15 minutes. Assumption is mother of all sins. 

Before that, I prepared a few dishes because at the back of my head, I have arranged that the chicken be prepared last on the stove. I needed the stove to make something that's fast. I did not know what to cook of the siew pak choy. I'm not a skillful cook when it comes to vegetables. So, I stir-fry those vege with Thai chilli sauce gravy. And the biggest mistake would be to chop up the vegetables. I think siew pak choy was meant to be cooked in whole, not cut up as the vegetables became bitter. It's like grinding the lime leaves. Maybe I should try it again without chopping the leaves up. If it's bitter again, I will just forget about trying to cook with green leafy vegetables.

That steamed egg tofu with salted fish was road-side bought. I buy it with a hidden agenda. To try out the taste and if it's nice then I'll create them myself. The salted fish taste was not strong enough. It was too mild and bland but it's okay, I'll make my own next time.

Prawns are easy to cook. The little bit of soup looked reddish in colour. There's no chilli or whatsoever. The prawn released its own juice. The prawn meat was succulent and yeah, we're really blessed to have such good food on days when there's no special occasion. Maybe because we treated everyday as special. We realized that many people do not know how to enjoy eating. Some just eat for the sake of filling up the empty stomach. We are really eaters who enjoy good food. We were actually waiting for our chicken to be ready but after we finished eating and clearing up the dining table, the water on the cover still looked very full. I ended up going up to the room, leaving the hubby to care for the chicken. Mi mama was taking a nap while my precious was lazing around doing nothing. Whenever you just had a hearty meal, you become lazy and tired.

After steaming half a pumpkin and getting my precious to remove the flesh, the pumpkin flesh was left in a container. I totally forgotten about it. Then, I got hubby to work the blender while I prepare the soup base for the pumpkin soup. It sounds easy to make pumpkin soup. Everything sounds easy but nothing is easy in cooking. It's easier to eat.

After more than an hour, finally the water on the cover dried up completely. It was such a long wait and we were not hungry anymore. Hubby has no strength to lift up the pot so left me only. The empty cast iron pot was already heavy and plus the chicken, it's not for those who has no strength in both arms. The pot would go down with your elongated arms.

I opened the lid and my precious went crazy. She was climbing up the chair like a three-year old getting her first birthday cake. I thought she was gonna climb up the table with all the excitement in her. I didn't know one can get so excited over a chicken in a pot. We used to have the whole chicken being roasted from the oven but she never got excited at all. 

I did it China style with the chicken head as well to prove that it's a chicken. Hahhahaha.... The meat was really tender even the breast meat was tender. We're so gonna do this again but I'm gonna marinade the chicken to the best I could muster. It's as simple as placing the spring onion at the base of the pot so that the chicken will not be burnt. You don't have to add any water. That's pure chicken essence in a pot.

We attacked the chicken with our fork and spoon. The meat just came off from the bone. It's so good. The cast iron dutch oven was sold at RM599 in various departmental stores and we got ours for only RM50. Worth every Ringgit.

We called the neighbour but none of them pick up their phones so we had the whole bird to ourselves. And of course, we couldn't finish the whole chicken. We still have leftovers until today. It's already Monday.

Yen Went For A Potluck~!

One doesn't go to Tesco to do grocery shopping only. One can easily pay for a car and put the car in the grocery bag. Tesco has everything under one roof. I haven't come to that position to buy a car and tick it off my grocery list. Anyway, a car doesn't exist under the grocery list as a car can't be cooked and eaten... .hehehe.... 

I was invited by a Facebook friend to his place for a potluck session. Fancy going to a stranger's place bringing food. I was thinking this particular person must have mistaken me for my cousin-out-law. But it's not so. Well, actually I invited him and his family over first for lunch for the fun of it. I do invite strangers over for dinner so having strangers over for lunch was no big deal. Hahhahaha....so we were thinking of what to bring over for potluck. We're not that good with potluck, we were afraid that we would drag our whole kitchen to another person's place. That's why usually we prefer playing host for parties and long table dinner. Now that I'm typing away, a sudden thought just dropped into my head. I have never hosted hi-tea before, with those cute little tartlets and all. Oh, I have no skills with cute stuff. I make everything big. I adopted part of this China mentality when I first went there. Everything must be big and huge. 

Hubby decided to make a simple yet delicious stir-fry Hong Kong noodles. We went straight to the supplier/factory to get those Hong Kong noodles. Then, we went back to nap because we were all so tired. Too tired to even do anything. But I de-veined and removed the shell of the prawns and marinated the minced meat before I collapsed on the bed. The alarm clock one hour later felt like we've only dozed off 5 minutes ago. But hubby managed to come out with that tray of noodles. I have no such skill. 

And we made those potato crisps. I used a small knife to carve out those thin potato slices and painstakingly poke them through the satay sticks. It took me hours to do them. Do you really believe that? If I really need to do that, then nobody will get to eat potatoes in my house anymore. We have those quite often in the house. Actually hubby bought the machine so I just need to push the stick into the potato's rear end and make it appear on another end, stuck it to the hole of the machine and started turning the handle. Viola~! The potatoes were cut and you just need to separate those slices or it would never be crispy. The seasoning was done by the hubby so please don't ask me how was it done. While those were still frying, I had lots of them stuff into my mouth first. They were so crispy and good. It's hard not to eat first. 

The potluck time was 6pm and terrible us were just starting with the deep-frying at that time. Talk about Malaysian time, we arrived at roughly around 7:30pm or was it at 8pm? Yet we were the first to arrive. Hallelujah~! But it's not always that everybody was like that. Then we strangers need nothing to break the ice. We were hungry so strangers or no strangers, gimme the food~!!!

PS. My long table dinner is usually at 6:30pm. Anyone who comes two hours later, will be left with only some gravy to lick from the plate. If the gravy is very good, then no gravy to lick. No rice left usually. I know how to cook rice of the exact amount. Probably late comers for my long table dinner or party will end up washing plates and cleaning up the house.

The Two Loaves...

Delicious sandwiches...

Two loaves of bread were made into awesome sandwiches today. I don't make sandwiches but I like to eat sandwiches. Mi mama made them for me today using two loaves of Massimo bread. The sandwich tower on the left is the tuna and egg sandwich. The tower on the right is egg and cheese sandwich. I can't arrange them all as the tower will collapse. So, this is good enough for photography purposes. The rest went into my stomach. Hehehehe.... Told ya' I can live on bread only. Oh, hubby made me soft-boiled eggs and a plate of instant noodles. The camera didn't get to eat because I was really hungry.

Jackfruit after that. Nice but not sweet enough. I like honey jackfruit more.

A Two-Fold Dinner....

Food from the kitchen...

Yesterday, a Sunday, we hosted a very unique long-table dinner. It was split into two continuous session. Both groups had the same food though. However, I felt that the food was too little. I will increase the number of dishes the next round they come over for dinner, and make it grander. 

Hubby and his old friend and family...

The family who came first was hubby's long lost ex-classmates back in high school when I didn't even exist in this world. They seemed to pick up from where they stopped some 30 years plus back. This man is one very knowledgeable man. Just listening to the conversation made my day. They don't eat much though, small eaters but cheery and happy family. Wife doesn't talk much. Thank you for coming over. I thought they would stay on until the next group come then that would be really great. The next group of people are really good in talking preaching. Yes, I said preaching. They are really very good, trust me on that. They can make you fall off the chair laughing.

The anointed guests :D

We joined in the second group. Hubby's family walked out of the house and drove off then their cars drove up and they walked in. What a way of not meeting at all. These are the prophets, the men of God. Preachers, pastors, prophets and evangelists are not those scary people who always only say Hallelujah, God bless you, Amen and Repent~!! They have marvelous parables for the modern days and they are humorous people. It's really great to have them over. I don't mind holding a banquet for them. So who's who in the photo? There's one from Bangalore, India, there's one Sarawakian, there's one Chinese who doesn't look like Chinese at all.... and so on and so forth. You want to know how interesting it is to listen to them? Join us at the next conference in Kuala Lumpur. Will give more details soon.

Blessed~! Truly Blessed~!!

Thursday morning. None of us were working. We woke up and went to have a walk at the morning wet market. Hubby bought me a new toy, more like a Christmas present, or was it HIS new toy????? It's a cast iron pot and our kitchen seriously doesn't have enough place to keep any more pots and pans. Well, just consider this as a blessing. That Mdm Yeap's cast iron pot was sold at RM50 only. One might not trust the ingenuity of a product sold by the roadside. Time will tell. It's just RM50. If it spoils, I don't know how will a pot spoil,  but then I believe my hubby will get me something new and better. 

I asked hubby to cook so I could spend my free hours looking through my stuff. I have been cooking for many days so it's time to let the hubby play in the kitchen. He made ginger chicken using the new toy. See... I told you, he bought it for himself. The ginger used was from Bentong, Pahang. Bentong is famous for ginger. I don't eat ginger so I try to stir clear from scooping up those ginger pieces.

Then, we had the hubby's favourite dish of tofu with minced meat and eggs. All steamed together. I didn't see how he prepare this. Never interfere when someone else is busy cooking. It will spoil the dishes. Too many cooks will spoil the dishes. The taste was perfect. I do not like tofu as tofu on its own is just plain tasteless.

We have a kilo of siput lala. What is siput lala in English? That looks like a lot. Added with wolfberries, the sweetness made this dish really good. The three of us finished up the whole kilo as my precious find anything with this kinda texture disgusting. Good, less one person to share, more for us.

Another of hubby's favourite. Bean curd sheet being tied in knots. He tied them into knots himself, steamed with pumpkins. The mushrooms were okay. I prefer small sized mushrooms, though. Small sized mushrooms are more aromatic.

A white snapper was bought from the market instead of Tesco. This dish was steamed without adding water to the fish, instead the whole lemon was squeezed to get its juice. It's sour then it became sweet. Lemon is one complicated fruit. 

Why blessed? Someone commented that the portion we were cooking looked like it could feed 10 people. If I had to share all these with 10 people, I would take over the kitchen from the hubby and started cooking a storm. All these were just nice for us 4 for one meal. We were really blessed because when I was browsing through those food blogs where people went here and there to dine, looking at the prices of food which has been charged, I just couldn't afford eating outside. With the amount of food that we're eating, I think I will need to spend at least RM200 for each meal for three person. Maybe I'll go home hungry and need to rummage for more food in the kitchen cabinet. The saddest part was there's no kitchen cabinet with ready-to-be-eaten food in my house.

Thus, we are truly blessed as all of us in the house can cook and we're able to enjoy good food in large amount and at the same time bless others when we have the opportunity. Those dishes are really simple. It's how you present the food that makes it look like it will cost a bomb. 

Let's do some simple costing. I usually don't calculate how much I spend on groceries because whether I spend a lot or a little, we still have more than enough. Count your blessings one-by-one.I can't do that. My blessings are uncountable. Well, in order to save some money, for those who always eat out should consider cooking at home:

2 whole chicken legs = RM9 (Get from Tesco will be cheaper by RM2)
2 pieces of beancurd = RM1.40
200g of minced meat = RM3.40
2 Grade A eggs = RM0.90
1 packet of bean curd sheet = RM2
Dried mushrooms .... errrmmm.... RM2 maybe, I bought a lot
1 quarter of a small pumpkin = RM0.50
1 white snapper = RM9

Total = RM 28.20 for 4 of us.

Don't calculate the preparation and work. It's done out of love. All these were cook with much love. How can you put a price on love? Oh, well... I always feel everything outside is expensive. It has to be expensive to cover the cost, the labour, the gas, the sweat, the time and many more things.

The 4th long table dinner will be hosted tomorror~! Yippee~!

Coconut & Pineapple...

When my kitchen crew came back on Monday for class, they told me that they did not have a chance to even try the coconut steamboat. Oh, that's really bad. While others have a taste of both the steamboat soups, the ones who worked really hard to make the party happen shouldn't be sidelined. On Tuesday, we had the coconut steamboat all over again. I had to leave the house early to work so I wrote down a list of things to get from the market for hubby. He went sourcing for them and dragged everything home. It was then arranged nicely while waiting for me to come home during lunch hour. I don't know what time is lunch actually. I reached home at 2:15p.m. and then we started eating.

There are various types of soup base. The most common one would be using the big pork bones and keep them in the slow cooker overnight. Earlier, I used big pork bones and also duck bones. This one using only pandan coconut water, I learnt from Shenzhen, China. Who says China has lousy food? You don't have to boil the coconut water first. Just go get the coconuts by the truckload if you're going to have many people coming over for the coconut water steamboat. Throw everything in and wait for the soup to boil. We didn't pull to extend our transformer dining table. The whole table looked really cramped. 

My kitchen crew with all the food. Don't need to serve anyone. Just serve self. We had that a few rounds. My precious was having her piano class at that time so we started off without her. Actually she started before they come and they she continued on after her class. A small table makes it feel cozier. 

Mi mama baked a box of pineapple cookies, pineapple rolls... whatever. Don't know how to call them as long as you know what they looked like. We had the best time fellowship-ing together. The kitchen is the best place to sit around. They really like sitting in the kitchen even when there's no food around. With food around, the kitchen will be congested. 

Those Prawns...

Deep-fried prawns...

How much do you love prawns? Some call them shrimps. There was once I finished one kilo of prawns at one go. Love them crunchy even without being deep-fried. Really fresh prawns will have that kinda body texture and I can have them cooked in curry, steamed, pan-fried, baked, deep-fried or any way of cooking them that you could come across. After the party, we have been having some leftovers and hubby made that for me to be dipped with mayonnaise. I can have this anytime as long as hubby has the time to cook. I don't enjoy deep frying as the oil might splatter and I have nowhere to hide.