Chicken Parmigiana Recipe

Michael loves chicken parmigiana but somehow Iv never thought of making it myself until now because anything to do with baking would make me think twice. Or more. I didnt realise that its actually pretty easy. ;)

1 piece boneless & skinless chicken breast (cut across horizontally so you get 2 thin pieces)

1 egg, beaten

Breadcrumb

Shredded parmesan and mozzarella cheese

Dipped the chicken into the egg and coat with breadcrumb. Baked for 40min at 350F.

For the sauce;

2.5 cups spaghetti sauce

1/4 cup white wine (optional)

4-5 tablespoon ketchup

salt, pepper & sugar to taste

1. Put all the ingredients into a pot and boil on medium heat. Keep stirring to avoid splatter.

2. When the chicken is done, put them aside.

3. In a 2-in deep baking pan, pour some of the sauce enough to cover the bottom.

4. Lay the chicken in a single layer. Sprinkle the shredded cheese onto the chicken.

5. Pour the rest of the sauce on top. Make sure the sauce covers the chicken and the cheese.

6. Continue baking for 20min at 350F.

Since we didnt have any spaghetti at home that time (yup, I forgot to get some on the last visit to the store), I just boiled some angel hair pasta to eat with the chicken parmigiana. He declared that the sauce was the best he had ever had. I wouldnt know the difference. Western food is not really my cup of tea. So I suggest that you listen to him. ;)

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Mango & Apple Salad (Kerabu Mangga & Epal) Recipe

Nothing lifts my spirit up (and open my eyes!) like sour-y stuff do. Not chocolote and definitely not cheese. :P Back during my working days in KL, I always make sure I have asam in my drawer. They are important in making sure that I dont fall asleep especially after the heavy lunch which usually would consist of rice with dishes like grilled fish, bbq lala, black pepper liver, sambal belacan with ulam and etc. All for just RM5-7 or USD1.6-2.30. You got the idea, right? ;)

Here in the US, you will find candies and chocolates sold by their weight. In Malaysia, besides candies and chocolates, we would have variety of asam, nuts and dried cuttlefish. I would spend quite sometime staring at them just to choose which ones I should buy eventhough usually I would end up buying the same things that I bought the last umphteenth times I was there!

So a few weeks ago when I was visiting Gert's blog at My Kitchen Snippet, I saw that she made some mango salad. And yes, I always have young mango in my fridge. Almost. All. The. Time. And. No. I. Am. Not. Pregnant. Yet. :P

Anyways, that gave me the idea of making some myself and of course with my own twist since the truth is, I dont really have much of the 'essential' ingredients in my kitchen.

So here's how I made my Mango & Apple Salad.

1 young mango, julienned

1 apple, julienned

half red onion, thinly sliced

3-4 thai chili, thinly sliced

Mint leaves, chopped

1-2 tablespoon crushed peanut (i used dry-roasted peanut)

For the dressing;

1/8 cup lime juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1-1.5 teaspoon sugar

1. Put all the salad ingredients except peanut in a bowl.

2. Mixed the dressing in a different bowl and stir well. Pour onto the salad, sprinkle the crushed peanut and serve.

Now, isn't that the easiest salad to make or what?

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Belacan & Salted Fish Fried Rice Recipe

Thank you friends who participated in my "Let's play a guessing game". Yatie actually guessed the closest. She may not get the name but she was the only who saw the (bony)salted fish. :)

Actually that was the first time I made anything with salted fish. My good friend Bee Yinn of Rasa Malaysia gave me some last year during one of those times when she was flying home and had to clear her fridge/freezer. Thank you Bee Yinn! ;)

Anyways, Iv been meaning to make this kind of fried rice for ages but keep forgetting that I have the salted fridge in the freezer. So, on that lovely weekend, after getting some green bean from the supermarket, I got busy.

1 cup cooked day-old rice

2-3 shallot
2 garlic
4-5 thai chili (use more/less depending on how hot you like your rice)
1/2" belacan (if you're using powder form, use about 1.5 teaspoon)

half medium size onion, sliced into 1/4"
a few pieces salted fish, fried and cut into small pieces
Deep-fried anchovies (optional)
green bean, thinly cut (i prefer long bean but when i was at the store they looked old)
frozen mixed vegetables
2 tablespoon vege oil
salt, pepper and sugar to taste

1. Using mortal & pestel, pound shallot, garlic, thai chili and belacan or you can use the small food processor.

2. In a wok or pan, heat the oil on medium high. Add in the blended ingredients and stir until fragrant. About 30seconds.

3. Add in the rest of the ingredients and keep stirring. 1 min.

4. Add the rice and continue stirring until the rice and ingredients blend together. Taste and add salt/sugar/pepper until you're satisfied.

You can see from the picture how I like eating my fried rice. I prefer my egg fried with oil to sunny side up since I like the crunchiness of the edges. Pour some of the Lingham Chili sauce, cut some red chili, fry some prawn/fish cracker and voila! It was heaven!

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Let's Play A Guessing Game, Shall We?

Its obviously fried rice but as we all know, they are hundred kinds of fried rice. Which one do you think this is?

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Grilled Sambal Stuffed Tilapia Recipe

Ikan bakar or grilled fish is so sinfully gorgi-licious! My favourite fish for grilling has always been stingray with sambal kicap (chili in soy sauce). Another one of my favourite is sambal stuffed scad (cencaru/jacket). My problem is tht 1). I dont know how to cut stingray and 2). I couldnt find any scad at the supermarket or maybe I just wasnt looking hard enough.

So what can an amatuer like me do? I just bought myself a tilapia, pretended that it's cencaru/scad , stuffed it with the leftover sambal, wrapped it in banana leaves and grill away! Im so smart, no? Yes I am! hahaha. And guess what? Even my husband who would make funny face when he sees the fish's face said it smells very nice once the banana leaves started to char. Banana leaves ROCKS!

This is what you will need

1 medium size tilapia, cleaned and dry-pat
A pinch of wet tamarind
Salt & Turmeric
Sambal tumis
Banana leaves, wiped clean with a damp cloth (both sides)

Preheat oven at 350-375F


1. Coat fish with salt and turmeric

2. Add about 4-5 tablespoon of hot water to wet tamarind to make juice and lather the fish with it.

3. Stuffed the fish with as much sambal tumis as you can.

4. Wrapped it with banana leaves


5. Place the fish on a round cookie sheet and put it in the oven. For about 30min, turning it once.

6. Unwrapped and continue grillingfor another 10-15 min or until the fish is completely cook and have that charred look.

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Cracker Barrel

Meatloaf

Iv already posted these pictures on my other blog together with other pictures taken from our VA trip last month. I figured since they'r food, I should talk more about them here.

The first 2 years that I lived in the US was in PA (Pennsylvania) since that's where Michael is from. There's a lot of Cracker Barrel there but somehow we have never, or maybe I should say that, HE has never taken me there. So when we were in VA (Virginia) last month for 3 weeks (no, its not a holiday, though I do wish it was!) I told him that I want to give it a try.

Grilled Catfish with Deep-fried Okra

The first thing that caught my eyes were the rocking chairs that they have outside their store. They are made of rattan but they aint cheap though. So we proceeded into the 'restaurant'. Well, its not yet the restaurant since the way the place is designed, you will be inside the store where they sell t'shirts, snacks, hats and etc before you are finally inside the restaurant. If you're a shopaholic, this is really the kinda place that you'd go all the time just because you can shop and then eat without having to do much of walking.

Now back to the food. Iv seen/read a few of my friends who seemed to like this place. Yet, somehow I dont. Yes the grilled catfish was pretty decent but that's basically it. Oh ok! That and the deep-fried lady finger. The mac n cheese was pretty tasteless. As for him, he hardly even ate his meatloaf and let me tell you, that guy loves meatloaf. So for him to not like the meatloaf is rather bizarre. on top of that, he didnt even get the left-over to-go.

And that's it. Too short? Well, what else can I say? Iv practically said what there is to be said. Sorry Cracker Barrel. You just dont score much in my book.

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Deep-Fried Fish in Soy Sauce (Ikan Masak Kicap)

That first picture look 'alien-like' dont you think so? Hehe. That could only mean 2 things. 1, that it is really an alien or 2, that I suck big time at taking picture. Ok, ok. I admit. I suck big time at taking picture. No need to rub it in. :P

Before I lay out the recipe, let me apologise for not posting anything in a week. We have been busy with apartment hunting and on top of that, I am suffering from tooth ache. I went to the dentist yesterday and got a temporary crown for 1 of my molar and am now waiting for the permanent one to be ready in 3 weeks time. Another big hole in the pocket. I am just thankful that I didn't need a root canal. Phew!

1 fish filet

Oil for deep frying

2 garlic, thinly sliced

half onion, sliced

1 red chili, sliced

1 tablespoon think soy sauce

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

3 tablespoon sweet soy sauce

1/4 cup water

salt, pepper and sugar to taste

2 tablespoon vege oil

1. Coat the fish with salt & turmeric and deep fry until golden brown. Keep aside.

2. In a medium shallow pan, heat the oil and saute the garlic. 20-30 sec.

3. Slowly add water and all other ingredients. Keep stirring until the mix thickens. Add more water if you dont like your sauce too thick or less water if you like it thick. About 3-4 min.

4. You can either pour the sauce onto the fish or add the fish to the sauce.

Enjoy with a bowl/plate of warm white rice.

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