I seem to have some sort of memory loss. I though I posted this already but it seems I haven’t. Oh well. I wanted to post about this Thai Green Curry. I like Green Curry. It’s rich and flavourful. I got the recipe from the internet after my friend told me that she had cooked a successful green chicken curry from a recipe off the web. I thought I’d give it a go and whaddya know? It turned out delicious. The only problem was that my chicken was tough. First time ever. I didn’t boil the chicken long enough. But seriously, this is so simple yet delicious to make that there really is no point paying so much from a Thai restaurant when you can do it yourself at home cheaply.
In a blender/chopper, add onions; garlic; ginger; one lemongrass; 5 big green chillies; a big bunch of coriander; pepper; fish sauce; cumin powder; coriander powder; a bit of palm sugar. Blend till it forms a paste.In a pot, add chicken, the green paste, water and boil till the chicken is cooked and tender.Pour in one box of coconut cream and pieces of brinjal.Season with salt and sprinkle fresh coriander over.The gravy is super delicious, especially when served with hot rice.
I like quail. They’re so small and adorable. And yummy. Luckily, I have a great colleague who shares with me a passion for cooking. She got a packet of halal quails for me and I got to cooking it that very weekend. I marinated the quails in olive oil, salt, pepper, rosemary, garlic. Pop it in the oven till done and voila! Fragrant, juicy roasted quails!
The Hubby said that I’ve perfected fried chicken because each time I cook it, even though they are all using different recipes and spices, they turn out crispy and juicy. Yay for me! Boo for my waistline 😦
This time round, I marinated the chicken thighs using lime juice, paprika (love them), black pepper, salt and garlic salt. Coat them with beaten egg and the flour (mixed with paprika again and black pepper) and fry till done. The skin will always be super crispy when fried this way.
But the real kicker is the apple relish. I got the idea from watching Sunny Anderson (from Cooking for Real) when she made a pear relish. I used apple and instead of cider vinegar, used balsamic and added in a couple of cloves. I used brown sugar (quite a lot to bring down the acidity of it all) and while that was cooking, kept tasting to adjust the seasoning. Luckily for me, The Hubby loved the relish, though The Little Girl hated it. I suppose apples have to look and taste like apples for little girls.
Experiment. Use whatever there is in the fridge. Try out new combinations.
Next time, I want to try using a mixture of plain flour and polenta since I have like leftovers and have no idea what to do with them. Experiment.Apple Relish. Oh I forgot, to speed up the thickening proess, I added half a teaspoon of cornstarch.Dinner! The overdone bread? One piece I cut into squares as croutons for the salad.Use these Sadia brand frozen chicken thighs. Affordable, easy to cook and the skin is just delicious when fried.
In a chopper, blend 2 onions, 3 garlic cloves, ginger slices, turmeric (fresh), and fresh red chillies. Variation: Dried red chillies can be used too together with the fresh ones. Forgotten ingredient here: candlenuts.In oil, fry the paste with one lemongrass and when the paste is cooked, add a couple pieces of kaffir lime leaves and one asam keping (asam piece).Add in chicken pieces and let it cook a while till the chicken is half done.When the chicken is half done, pour in one packet of coconut milk (KARA) and some water. Let the chicken cook completely and the gravy thicken.Don't forget to add salt.Serve with rice like my lunch today. Or eat with bread like what The Hubbster did today.
I roasted duck. In a few months time, OK in December then (who am I kidding), I’ll probably roast another one.
My first attempt wasn’t too bad. Edible. But definitely with loads of room for improvement. For example, the skin. Sigh. I wonder how the Pekingnese (there’s no such word, just for the record) are able to make the perfect Peking Duck.
This is what I did…
Rub duck with salt, black pepper and paprika.
And then pop it in the hot oven for more than an hour. That hole there in the duck? Thats me checking the skin for crispiness. Not like the restaurants but still crispy enough.
Roast Duck.Bitter Orange Sauce. Why bitter? Because the jam that I used was a bitter orange one! All I did was take a few tablespoons of jam and plonk it in a small saucepan, add freshly squeezed orange juice and orange zest and let it boil till it thickens.
I will cook you again, Mr Duck, even though the only two people in the family who will eat you are The Hubby and I.
The Occasional Cook 