Cajun Chicken Pasta Recipe

Chicken Cajun Pasta is one of my husband's favourite. Everytime we go to BJ's, this is what he would order so I figured I'd try make this at home. It took me quite a while to get the recipe right and after a few trial and errors, both from recipes I got online and my own interpretation, I finally figured out how to make it right. It is also very easy and for this Chicken Cajun Pasta recipe, I opted to use more dried seasonings instead of fresh ones so it would be easy for those who would rather not buy a whole bunch of fresh ingredients and not use the rest.

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Carrot Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I am making myself craving for some carrot cupcake just by looking and writing about them. I love me some carrot cupcake! Yes I do! Well, actually I love carrot cake. I just figured that making them in cupcakes instead of a cake would be easier if I was giving them to other people which was the reason why I made some for Christmas last year so my husband could bring them to work to share with his coworkers. Of course he'd gladly do it because his other option would be him having to eat most of them all by himself. And also listening to me asking him, "Honey, you want some cupcake?" everyday after work/dinner. Oh yes, I can be very persistent to the extend of borderline irritating to my husband. I'm very sure of that. But I know he loves me. :)

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Deep Fried Macaroni with Meat - Recipe

Deep Fried Macaroni with Meat

1 1/2 cup macaroni, cooked as per instruction and drained
1/2 lb ground beef
3 tbs vegetable oil
3 garlic and 2 shallots, thinly sliced 
4 tbs water
1 carrot, julienned
1 large tomato, cut into 8
1/4 cup ketchup/tomato sauce
Salt and sugar to taste

1. In a large wok or pan, brown ground meat. Drained excess fat and set aside.
2. Heat the oil in the same wok and sauteed garlic and shallots until brown and add water and all other ingredients except macaroni. Stir well and taste.
3. Lastly add macaroni and stir occasionally.

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Our Thanksgiving Feast

The main star - Roasted Turkey

Fragrant Stargazer Lilies Certified Stargazer Lilies, sustainably grown, toxic pesticide free, a beautiful bouquet. Guaranteed to last 1 week from date of delivery - Shipped direct from the farm!

Stuffing

Steamed Vegetables

Coleslaw

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Spaghetti with Shrimp and Spinach - 3S's

Look at those big and juicy shrimp! I got the idea to make these Spaghetti with Shrimp and Spinach from Justin of Justcooknyc. His sauce is of course more elaborate and basically from scratch while my sauce is straight from the bottle.

Spaghetti with Shrimp and Spinach
serves 2

Spaghetti - I use whole grain
1 cup spaghetti sauce - more if you like extra sauce
10 pcs shrimp - cleaned, de-veined and de-shelled
1/2 bunch of spinach - cleaned and drained
Salt and sugar

1. Cook spaghetti as per the instruction, drain and put on 2 plates.

2. In a pot, heat the sauce on medium heat and add salt and sugar to taste.

3. Add shrimp and stir for like 30sec to 1min.

4. Turn the heat off and add in spinach. Gently fold the sauce on the spinach.

5. Pour the sauce onto the plate of spaghetti and enjoy immediately.

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A simple and Easy Breakfast

This is among what I would make for myself when I am just too lazy but won't want to settle for toast and butter. I would fry my egg sunny side up and dish up this mixed veggie with a few dash of worchestershire sauce. Have you cooked your mixed veggies like this before? I am not sure exactly how I came to make it this way but I have been doing it for years when I was still living back home. I do like my mixed veggies this way and would make it to accompany my steak or fish.

Mixed Veggies with Worchestershire Sauce

2-3 handful of frozen mixed veggies
1-2 tbs veggie oil
Salt
Sugar (optional)
White pepper (optional)
1 tbs worchestershire sauce

1. Heat oil on medium in a wok or pan and slowly add the frozen mixed veggies. Stir and cover. 2-3min.

2. Uncover and stir. Add all the other ingredients and stir again. 30sec-1min.

3. Serve immediately with toast and fried egg or steak or even fish.

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Marble Cheese Cake

I actually made this Marble Cheesecake a couple of months ago after looking at MamaFami's blog. The moment I saw the pictures and read the ingredients and instructions, I knew I had to make some since it sounded doable and it actually is. As much I love cheesecake, I can only eat so much since I found them a bit too thick and too rich for my taste. And that is why this Marble Cheesecake is just amazing. You get to enjoy cheesecake with half the guilt. *wink* Here is the recipe copied from MamaFami's. Hope you will like it as much as I did.

Marble Cheese Cake


Ingredients :

(A)
185g butter
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup castor sugar
1 cup self-raising flour
2 eggs

(B)
250g cream cheese (I used 12 oz Philadelphia cream cheese)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup fresh milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Method :

1. Melt butter over low heat. Then add in cocoa powder. Leave to cool.
2. Add in sugar and stir. Add in eggs, one at a time. Finally add in flour and stir until well mixed.. Set aside.
3. In another bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar till creamy. Add in the egg, vanilla essence and fresh milk.
4. Spoon 2 tablespoons of the cocoa mixture onto the middle of the prepared tin (line with greaseproof paper). Top it with 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese mixture. Continue doing so, until all the mixture finishes.
5. Bake in a preheated oven at 350F C for 45 minutes or until cake is done. Leave overnight before cutting.

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Bread and Butter Pudding (Puding Roti)

Simple is usually the best way to prepare food. Don't you agree? Like bread and butter pudding. I just love them and I expect everybody would too only to find out that Michael do not. I really have to change my mentality that not everybody enjoy food. Some people eat because they just have to.


Back to bread and butter pudding. Since I love them, I have tried a few recipes and all of them are too elaborate for my taste. I realised that I don't like 'stuff' like raisins or nuts in them. I remember one time I made it with all the ingredients that you can think of and my friends love it but I didn't. Since then I scaled down the ingredients used in my bread pudding until I am satisfied with the taste. This reminds me of Gordon Ramsey's show The F Word. On 1 episode he and another guy had a showdown on bread and butter pudding. As usual his is very fancy shmancy while the other guy's is very simple and once they are done, were served to the customers 'in the dark'. The result? Well, the other guy's bread and butter pudding won hands down and Ramsey was shocked! I thought that was funny. hehehe.

Bread and Butter Pudding

6 slices of bread
3 eggs
1 3/4 - 2 cups milk
1 tbs vanilla extract
6-7 tbs sugar
3 tbs melted butter
Chocolate chips
Cinnamon powder


1. Butter baking dish or use cooking spray

2. Cubed 4 of the bread and lay them on the baking dish. Add chocolate chips on top.

3. In a bowl, whisk the egg, add milk and vanilla extract.

4. In another bowl, add sugar with butter. Butter the other 2 slices of bread with them and sprinkle with cinnamon powder. Cut into 4 pieces each. Set aside. (This is for the topping)

6. Combine the egg mix with butter and stir well. Pour them on top of the bread in the baking dish. Let it rest on room temperature for 30min.

7. Preheat oven to 325F.

8. Add the topping to the baking dish and bake for 1 hour.


*** I got the idea for the topping from here.***

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Lobster Tail with Lemon Curry Butter

I am so lucky to live in SoCal where seafood is easy to get and not too expensive. My girlfriend who lives in Germany always complain to me how she missed eating seafood since they are not easy to get. But then again, she goes back to Malaysia at least twice a year and where she lives, Titisee/Black Forest, it is just so beautiful. So I guess that was not too bad eh? Talking about Black Forest, reminds me of Black Forest Cake. I am not quite sure if they are available here but they are in Malaysia and it is 1 of my favourite cakes and they are so yummy. I had a huge slice when I was in Black Forest and it took me by suprised by the overwhelmingly taste of alcohol in the cake unlike those available in Malaysia.



I think I am confusing my readers now since the title and pictures posted here are not of cake of any kind. No, you are not wrong. I was just reminiscing all the travelling that I did during my younger years. *wink* Now back to the title and pictures, I made Lobster Tail with Lemon Butter Sauce after I saw it at Maya's My Feasts. This is the 2nd time I cooked lobster on my own. The first time, I just boiled it and eat it with chili sauce. I know! Sad huh? After seeing it at My Feasts, I decided to make some myself. Here is my version.

Lobster Tail with Lemon Curry Butter

1 lobster tail, halves
2 garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
1/4 tsp hot chili powder
1 tbs curry powder
1/2 stick unsalted butter -softened
1 tbs lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt

1. Saute minced garlic and shallot with 2 tbs of butter.

2. Add in chili and curry powder and saute for 1 min. Let it cool and add in lemon juice. Keep aside (or you can refrigerate) until ready to use.

3. Seasoned lobster tail with salt and pepper. Lightly butter a frying pan and cook the lobster tail. (Just like shrimp, this should not take long)

4. When the lobster is done, pour some of the Lemon Curry Butter on top. Eat with steamed vegetable like broccoli and carrot. You can also drizzle some of the Lemon Curry Butter on the vegetables like I did.

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Baked Trout with Vegetables

There are many reasons why I love blogging. From getting to 'meet' people from around the world, sharing experiences to learning different cultures and cuisine. One of my newly found friend is Olga of Mango & Tomato. A couple of months ago while browsing her blog, something caught my attention. Her dad was her guest blogger that day and he just made Baked Trout with Vegetables. I love fish. And vegetables. But I have never bake them together. In fact I have never baked any fish before.


I told her that I will try that recipe once I got hold of some trout and last weekend I finally got some .. err actually just 1. As usual I would add a few others of my favourite vegetable and ingredient. Here is my version of Baked Trout with Vegetables.

Baked Trout with Vegetables
serves 1

1 trout, cleaned and make 4 slits on each side
2-3 medium size potato, peeled and cut into chunks
1 carrot, peeled and cut into chunks
1 eggplant, cleaned and sliced 1cm thick
A handful of green beans, cut both ends and halves
1 red chili, core removed and julienned
Juice of 1 lime (or 2)
1 tbs light soy sauce
1 tbs sweet soy sauce
2 garlic, finely chopped
Salt
A dash of cayenne pepper
Tarragon
Oil

1. Preheat oven 375-400F

2. Season the fish with salt (inside and out) and lay it on the oiled pan.

3. Put lime juice, soy sauces, garlic, salt, cayenne pepper and tarragon in a bowl and mix well.

4. Lather the fish with the mix making sure that you stuff some of the coarser ingredients in between the slits and the inside of the fish. Pour the rest of the ingredients on to the fish.

5. Start laying out the vegetables around the fish and drizzle some salt and oil on top.

6. Bake for 20-30min.

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Superbowl Menu

Honey Barbeque Chicken Wings

This weekend, the football fan in the US (in Malaysia, it is known as American football) will either be in Tampa, Florida or glued in front of the television at home or at their favourite bars to watch the SuperBowl. If you're watching the game at a bar or at the stadium, food would be the least of your problem. But what if you are watching it at home and friends are coming over? Do not fret my friends. Here are some of the food that you can prepare and maybe even impressed them. Just click on the name at the bottom of each picture to get the recipes. In the meantime, have a fun weekend everybody! Don't drink and drive ok?

Banana Fritters

Prawn Fritters

Frankly Onion

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Cheesy Garlic Biscuits

Is it just me or it is hard to get back to posting after a very long weekend? Well, Thanksgiving was good. Our friends, Shirley and Kevin came to celebrate it with us. We did not have any turkey this year but that does not mean we did not have lots of food. We had hot roast beef sandwiches, Cheesy Garlic Biscuits, sushi, potato salad, coleslaw, yeemee noodles and even a few vodka shots. ;)




I don't really fancy biscuits but Michael loves them especially the ones at Red Lobster. He could just eat those Cheesy Garlic Biscuits and nothing else and he is a happy camper. Very easy. So for Thanksgiving, I decided to make some. I found the recipe at Joyfulabode.com and decided to give it a try. I'm glad everybody liked them. It is easy to make and goes well with the hot roast beef sandwiches.


Cheesy Garlic Biscuits Recipe
Makes 12

*** Burst21 is a game made by my husband during his spare time. Please do extend your support to the game. Thank you all!

****Chef's note: I made these again last night but using Jiffy's Baking Mix. The result is almost the same. So if you can't find Biscuit Mix, you can always use baking mix or maybe even pancake mix. Good luck!

1 pack buttermilk biscuit mix (I used Bisquick, about 1 1/2cups)
1 1/2cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp oregano (you can omit or use less)
3/4 tsp garlic salt

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Spray cooking sheet with non-stick spray.

2. Put biscuit mix, cheese and milk in a bowl and mix well to form a sticky dough.

3. Using spoon, drop lumps of dough onto cookie sheets 1.5in apart. Bake for 10min.

4. In a bowl, melt butter and mix with oregano and garlic salt.

5. When the timer goes off, take them out and brush with butter mixture and bake 5min at 400F and another 5-6min at 350F.

6. Transfer into a plate and serves immediately.

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Swiss Souffle Potatoes

Looking at my my blog entries it seems like I only make asian or Malaysian dishes. Well, that is not entirely true since Michael doesn't really eat my food so everytime I cook something for myself, I will cook something western for him like here, here and here.

Recently we went to Ross and I found this cooking book called Best-Ever 500 Recipes. They might have 500 recipes but typical me, I would only try to make something if 1) I have the ingredients or at least substitute with something that I already have 2) its easy to make 3) its something that either one of us would like. So I chose to make these Swiss Souffle Potatoes and they turned out so good I wish I had made more.

Swiss Souffle Potatoes
serves 2

2 baking potatoes (about 1lb)
1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese (I used mozzarella)
1/4 cup herb butter (I used regular butter)
2 tbsp double/heavy cream (I used evaporated milk)
1 egg, separated
salt and ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 425F.

2. Scrub the potatoes and prick all over with a fork. Bake for 1-1.5hrs or until tender. Remove from oven and reduce heat to 350F.

3. Halves potatoes and scoop out the flesh into a bowl. Place the potato shells on a baking sheet and return to the oven to crisp up while making the filling.

4. Mash the potato flesh, add cheese, butter and egg yolk. Mix well, then season with salt and pepper to taste.

5. Whisk white egg until stiff and carefully fold into the potato mixture. Pile the mixture back into the potato shells and bake for 20-25min until risen and golden brown.

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Chili Tuna Pasta And Oven Roasted Brussel Sprout

I bought some brussel sprouts yesterday to make the oven roasted brussel sprout that Jo made at her blog but I cant just have that for dinner, can I? So I walked back and forth opening the fridge, freezer and all the kitchen cabinets thinking what else should I make. Then I saw a can of the Bumble Bee Spicy Thai Chili Tuna and decided to make my favourite pasta that I used to order everytime I go to the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf outlet in Malaysia, Chili Tuna Pasta.

You can also check out my other recipe using Chili Tuna, Roti Pratha with Egg and Spicy Thai Chili Tuna.

Chili Tuna Pasta
Serves 1-2

1 can 5oz Bumble Bee Spicy Thai Chili Tuna

1 tomato, cubed

2-3 thai chili, sliced (optional, only if you like it hot)

2 tbsp olive oil

Cooked spaghetti or pasta of your choice

In a pan, heat olive oil on medium heat and add everything in. Stir occasionally. Serve on cooked spaghetti.

Oven Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Serves 1

8 Brussels sprouts, cleaned and halves lengthwise

Olive oil

Salt

Fresh ground black pepper

Pre-heat oven 400F

1. Lay out the brussel sprouts on a baking pan in a single layer.

2. Sprinkle some olive oil, salt and black pepper.

3. Baked for 30-40 min, depending on the amount of brussel sprouts that you use.

4. Serves immediately as they taste better hot. Crunchy and yummylicious good.

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