ayonecan-cook

This is another grilled chicken recipe from Rachel Allen. Thai influenced and easy. I was tempted to add some coconut cream but decided otherwise at the last minute because I thought her chicken looked yummy enough.  We had this for dinner. I was expecting it to be a little stickier considering the name but it wasn't as sticky. Okay I'll admit I did not follow the recipe to a T.......neither did Rachel on tv.....but it was tasty. The next time I make this i would add some dry  roasted and crushed cumin seeds or a dash of cumin powder and a splash of coconut cream to the marinade. I think it would be much more flavourful. Having said that, this wasn't bad at all. I like baking or roasting chicken. I get to nap. The Recipe ~ adapted from Rachel Allen 6 chicken thighs and drumsticks 2-3 red chillies, chopped 1 inch ginger, chopped 5 cloves garlic, chopped 2 sticks lemon grass, white part only and sliced 2 - 3 T brown sugar, I used palm sugar juice of 2 limes 3-4 T fish sauce ...

S eeing that I have only one one rack in my oven a Dobos Torte was not something I was keen to attempt. But I did it. In 4 hours. The sponge layers took only 5 minutes to bake but must be watched and baking those thin layers should never be paired with accidental naps in between. The chocolate frosting made me falter and I almost went for another recipe because 3 raw egg yolks could mean salmonella attacks, hospitalization and doctor's bills en masse. I decided to be brave and went ahead. We are all well, alive and hungering for more Dobos Torte. Thanks be to God. I had cut the last piece of sponge layer into 8 wedges and seperated them a little before pouring the amber caramel over. One thing I learnt was that you only need to cut through the caramel when the caramel has hardened. With a very sharp knife. It is much easier than having sticky caramel globbing up your knife and gooey caramel threads stretching between your fingers endlessly. A Dobos Torte looks much harder to make t...

I had planned to do a Hokkien Mee for dinner and then decided that I might as well blog about it. This is one of my favourite noodle dishes apart from a  hearty and spicy mee mamak. To be honest I didn't know that there were variations of this dish until I googled it. I had always thought of Hokkien mee as the dark, thick sauced, fat noodle dish. Period. Now I know that Penang has it's own version as does Singapore. All three look absolutely scrummy! This version however is really quick to put together and it must be made just before serving. Because the sauce is a simple mixture of sweet dark soy sauce, some oyster sauce and stock I find that the yellow noodles used in this dish cannot be substituted by any other because the flavour of the noodles contributes to the flavour of the dish as a whole. I had tried using my own home made noodles but it didn't quite taste the same because it did not have the flavour particular to Hokkien Mee made with yellow noodles. The yell...

You'd probably like to know what this is all about. Well this has been my latest pre-occupation. I'm almost saturated with excitement.                                                                                            Back view I don't have an excessive weakness for bags. Or shoes. But when I first saw Kelly Moore's B-Hobo camera bag on Pam's Sidewalk Shoes about a month ago I couldn't resist. I had to have it. I've been fondling it ever since. And H has been giving me funny looks. But it was worth the wait and the dollars spent. Unl...

Amber is beautiful, saffron is precious and so are dear, close friends.  Back from her trip to the Middle East A had bought me a pack of these beautiful saffron infused sugar cubes in addition to two boxes of saffron threads, a beautiful, giant sized ornamental glass tazbih and...get this .... a pair of glamorous 'diamond' studded high heels. Wheeee ~ I had inadvertently earned the last by pure luck. A had bought the wrong size. Unfortunately  for Z or fortunately for me, depending on how you see it, it fitted me perfectly. So you see...size does matter. Now, all I need is a fairy god mother. Aren't friends sweet? Thank you. Not just for the gifts but for being there. ~ :) These precious sweet saffron infused sugar cubes I would revel in, in a cup of hot tea, when I am alone, curled up with a book on a couch so that I can sip and enjoy it in all its glory. They are far too precious to be used with gay abandon.  I am enjoying a cuppa now. And it is infused with the fragran...

O n the occasions when I accompanied my dad to do a take away from the Malay food shops in Section 17 after school I always wondered whether this dish was a rendang that had been cooked until it was bone dry or was it simply a dish of fried chicken with lots of scraps from the bottom of the wok put and piled on top thus making it an accidental but delicious dish.  I have wondered for more than 4 decades and have never encountered anyone who cooks this at home. I don' t think many know what its called. I could not do a google search because of that. But if  you were to go to a Malay food shop you will surely see it. So I sometimes wonder if all this is just me ? Or is this all just me ? Then I found a photograph and the elusive recipe of this I-didn't-know-the-name dish on Jom Masak Jom Makan who got it from Ummi of Home Sweet Home . Finally. The name of this dish is Ayam Masak Kalasan Berseri. It's no wonder I was unable to locate this recipe. It's named after a p...

Papaya trees grow from a seed to a fruit-bearing 20 foot tree in about eighteen months. And they fruit the way rabbits breed. In a bunch. They are not one of my favourite fruit because they have a slight bitter undertone. But young green papaya when made into a Thai salad transforms into something quite, quite wonderful. Utterly refreshing.  My first encounter of a Thai papaya salad was at the Thai ambassador's cocktail party many years ago. In an effort to promote their cuisine they had booths set up to demonstrate the makings of various scrumptious Thai dishes. Surprisingly amoung all other mouth-watering dishes the one dish that I fell in love with was the Thai papaya salad.  I think it was the combination and perfect balance of fresh fruit, toasted dried shrimps, hot chillies, salty fish sauce, tart lime juice and crunchy peanuts that won me over. With the Thai papaya salad comes the above, right, which, I  believe, is a Thai invention. The papaya/fruit shredder. It l...

I thought I could s'nail' this since arts and crafts has always been my forte but these flower or snail buns were quite a challenge. And chignons I have never made. Unlike Terri. So perhaps that explains why I was struggling. I almost didn't post these. Some of them looked ridiculously laughable. These were the best of the worst. N looked at me with a question mark on her face. But I think they taste good. I'll know by sunset. I will have to re-heat them though. These are best eaten warm. I have always loved Chinese steamed buns but especially buns with a spicy curry meat filling. Yes.... you cannot take the Malay out of me but there's always room for Chinese. And chocolate. And ice cream. These would be good soaking up a curry I made last night. Oh. My. Yum.  Terri was spot on with the recipe. I used exactly 200 ml of water and  I didn't need to add a drop more. I kneaded the pau dough in the machine until it didn't stick. I had no sticky problems. The ...