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Saturday, July 26, 2008
Samosa Mamak
Samosa Mamaks are the basic premise of any Malay/Indian Singaporean entree menu. It's a simple-to-make, very tasty mezze dish which complements any meal, and is great for a snack.
The best thing about it is that it refrigerates well and microwaves well without losing its crunch.
Its also really simple to make.
There are usually two variations of it, there's the more 'Chinese' influenced on which is made from a thicker dough and deep fried, giving it an almost cake-like consistency on the pastry which encases the filling, and then there's this traditional easy-peasy version using filo pastry.
The best thing about it is that it refrigerates well and microwaves well without losing its crunch.
Its also really simple to make.
There are usually two variations of it, there's the more 'Chinese' influenced on which is made from a thicker dough and deep fried, giving it an almost cake-like consistency on the pastry which encases the filling, and then there's this traditional easy-peasy version using filo pastry.
I used ready-made filo pastry sheets you can keep forever in the fridge; about 3 sheets, halved them by cutting them lengthwise, which makes six.
This is because I wanted my samosas to be finger-food. I don't like cramming large pieces of food in my mouth, I like them relatively bite-sized.
These are vegetarian samosas, but you can add shredded chicken or ground beef to the recipe if you want.
Add oil, then diced onions, and sweat for a few minutes or till fragrant. Add potatoes. Cook on low heat - cover for 5 min or till potatoes are soft.
Add mustard seeds, paprika, garam masala, black pepper, salt, chilli powder, curry powder, soy sauce, coriander. Stir-fry for a few minutes. It should be somewhat sticky and slightly mushy by then. Add water.
Cook for another 3 -5 minutes, do not cover.
If potatoes are cooked but solid, mash it gently with a fork, but allow it to be slightly lumpy for texture, and cook for a further 3 minutes till soft.
Once potatoes are soft and mixure moist and mushy, remove from pan. Do not allow it to be too dry, or the samosas won't taste very good.
Make sure your filo pastry is covered by a slightly damp cloth when making samosas, or you'd be effectively screwed because they harden really fast.
Once they're done, place on a non-stick baking pan, and bake in oven at 180 degrees till golden brown!This is because I wanted my samosas to be finger-food. I don't like cramming large pieces of food in my mouth, I like them relatively bite-sized.
These are vegetarian samosas, but you can add shredded chicken or ground beef to the recipe if you want.
...
Samosa Mamak
(Serves 2)
3 sheets (25cm x 25cm) frozen ready-rolled puff pastry, thawed, halved lengthwise
2 small potatoes, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1/2 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp garam masala
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp salt
1/4 tsp chilli powder
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsp water
4 tbsp oil
few sprigs of coriander, chopped
Toast mustard seeds in dry pan till fragrant. Set aside.Samosa Mamak
(Serves 2)
3 sheets (25cm x 25cm) frozen ready-rolled puff pastry, thawed, halved lengthwise
2 small potatoes, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1/2 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp garam masala
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp salt
1/4 tsp chilli powder
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsp water
4 tbsp oil
few sprigs of coriander, chopped
Add oil, then diced onions, and sweat for a few minutes or till fragrant. Add potatoes. Cook on low heat - cover for 5 min or till potatoes are soft.
Add mustard seeds, paprika, garam masala, black pepper, salt, chilli powder, curry powder, soy sauce, coriander. Stir-fry for a few minutes. It should be somewhat sticky and slightly mushy by then. Add water.
Cook for another 3 -5 minutes, do not cover.
If potatoes are cooked but solid, mash it gently with a fork, but allow it to be slightly lumpy for texture, and cook for a further 3 minutes till soft.
Once potatoes are soft and mixure moist and mushy, remove from pan. Do not allow it to be too dry, or the samosas won't taste very good.
Make sure your filo pastry is covered by a slightly damp cloth when making samosas, or you'd be effectively screwed because they harden really fast.
@ 6:18 AM
Sloppy but Satisfying
I promised Mo that these couple of days leading up to the next week or so, while being 'stuck in transit' between the want of applying for tertiary studies in Universities and then finding a job after that, hopefully, that I'd manage dinner.
Lunches are a bonus, I don't know if I can juggle that much considering the mad rush in the mornings to get ready for the morning stampede.
He'd been a real trooper when it came to supporting me and most of the time, tolerating my temper tantrums when it came to just cramming my arse off for the last semester project deadline for my final year.
He also became errand boy for the 2 weeks during the 3D rendering times and the endless burning of the midnight oil for the stack upon stack of written idea and project management work to be printed out and presented in a visually appealing book.
He did most of the cooking, while I just slogged it out.
I love the quid pro quo we have going on here.
He's there many times to give me that helping hand or that inspiring push. Else, most of the time you can find him munching absent-mindedly on chocolates, wafers, biscuits or fruits while watching the telly.
So, its a good time, anyhoos, to work on my cooking skills. Back then and then, I seemed to draw more inspiration from the outside world, to say the least, rather than sit and whinge about how I don't cook 'right' anymore.
I decided its better now then never to just take short little break finally and just bum out. Relax. Cook. Blog. Eat. Lose some weight.
Did I just say lose some weight?
Anyway. The next couple of pictures would completely just make you snicker with pleasurable vindictiveness at my absolute failure to conform to my goals.
Last night's dinner. Sloppy but satisfyingly wholesome and unpretentious!
I did the classic Italian lasagna with bachamel sauce instead of using ricotta cheese and eggs. Yuck. That's a very disgusting combination. Ricotta I can take. But to mix it with egg and glop it layer upon layer.
The chicken was a simple affair. I marinated it in a small splash white wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, cracked black pepper, basil, oregano and sage, mixed it around with my bare hands and left it to permeate the chicken.
Later, I mad a thick slit into the chicken and stuffed it with sliced sun-dried tomatoes and olives (both from commercial jarred varieties.), before coating it with flour, and grilling it with a generous couple of tablespoons of olive oil.
In a separate pan, I sauteed onions with a knob of butter and some lashings of olive oil till soft, before seasoning with salt, cracked black pepper and some rosemary. That sits at the top of the chicken.
The contrast I had wanted didn't seem to work out very well. Oh well. There's always a next time. Because Mo picks alot on his chicken, I made a thin, schnitzel-like version for him to pick off without complaining about it "being like a carcass" or something extremely ridiculous like that.
I decided that it was a bit too dry and made a simple tomato sauce for it. I have a handy little spice mixture from McCormick labeled "Italian herbs" when it comes to not being sure how to season something, or just wanting to season the whole damn thing quickly.
So, handy lil' thing went into a small shallow pan of bubbling tomato paste diluted with some water. Stir till it becomes a smooth sauce, add some black pepper. Voila!
Honestly speaking, we had already eaten 1/4 of the food before I realised, horrified, that once again I had forgotten to snap some pictures.
So that probably has something to do with the pictures. But no amount of photoshopping or lighting could help the fact that today's food was sloppy, albeit very creamy and yummy.
Oh well. All's well that ends well.
Current Mood:
Full
Current Tunes: Legend of Dragoon - Legend of Dragoon theme (by Dennis Martin)
Lunches are a bonus, I don't know if I can juggle that much considering the mad rush in the mornings to get ready for the morning stampede.
He'd been a real trooper when it came to supporting me and most of the time, tolerating my temper tantrums when it came to just cramming my arse off for the last semester project deadline for my final year.
He also became errand boy for the 2 weeks during the 3D rendering times and the endless burning of the midnight oil for the stack upon stack of written idea and project management work to be printed out and presented in a visually appealing book.
He did most of the cooking, while I just slogged it out.
I love the quid pro quo we have going on here.
He's there many times to give me that helping hand or that inspiring push. Else, most of the time you can find him munching absent-mindedly on chocolates, wafers, biscuits or fruits while watching the telly.
So, its a good time, anyhoos, to work on my cooking skills. Back then and then, I seemed to draw more inspiration from the outside world, to say the least, rather than sit and whinge about how I don't cook 'right' anymore.
I decided its better now then never to just take short little break finally and just bum out. Relax. Cook. Blog. Eat. Lose some weight.
Did I just say lose some weight?
Anyway. The next couple of pictures would completely just make you snicker with pleasurable vindictiveness at my absolute failure to conform to my goals.
Last night's dinner. Sloppy but satisfyingly wholesome and unpretentious!
Vegetable Lasagna with Grilled Chicken Breast
stuffed with Mozzarella, Olives and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
.........
stuffed with Mozzarella, Olives and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
.........
I did the classic Italian lasagna with bachamel sauce instead of using ricotta cheese and eggs. Yuck. That's a very disgusting combination. Ricotta I can take. But to mix it with egg and glop it layer upon layer.
The chicken was a simple affair. I marinated it in a small splash white wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, cracked black pepper, basil, oregano and sage, mixed it around with my bare hands and left it to permeate the chicken.
Later, I mad a thick slit into the chicken and stuffed it with sliced sun-dried tomatoes and olives (both from commercial jarred varieties.), before coating it with flour, and grilling it with a generous couple of tablespoons of olive oil.
In a separate pan, I sauteed onions with a knob of butter and some lashings of olive oil till soft, before seasoning with salt, cracked black pepper and some rosemary. That sits at the top of the chicken.
The contrast I had wanted didn't seem to work out very well. Oh well. There's always a next time. Because Mo picks alot on his chicken, I made a thin, schnitzel-like version for him to pick off without complaining about it "being like a carcass" or something extremely ridiculous like that.
I decided that it was a bit too dry and made a simple tomato sauce for it. I have a handy little spice mixture from McCormick labeled "Italian herbs" when it comes to not being sure how to season something, or just wanting to season the whole damn thing quickly.
So, handy lil' thing went into a small shallow pan of bubbling tomato paste diluted with some water. Stir till it becomes a smooth sauce, add some black pepper. Voila!
Honestly speaking, we had already eaten 1/4 of the food before I realised, horrified, that once again I had forgotten to snap some pictures.
So that probably has something to do with the pictures. But no amount of photoshopping or lighting could help the fact that today's food was sloppy, albeit very creamy and yummy.
Oh well. All's well that ends well.
Current Mood:
FullCurrent Tunes: Legend of Dragoon - Legend of Dragoon theme (by Dennis Martin)
@ 5:38 AM
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Lemon Cake!
Lemon cake last night!
Yummy and moist, and to be eaten with milk.
Too bad it wasn't tea time. It'd be lovely with that.
Current Mood:
HungryCurrent Tunes: Chrono Cross - Ending Credits
@ 1:36 PM
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Mo's 24th Birthday!
Just a quick one:
Today is Mo's birthday!
He's 24 today. Yes, a big number, one that he just can't get over.
We've got to pop by a few places before we celebrate his birthday...but not before I made him a yummy breakfast surprise of - yes, you'll find it's quite familiar, but yet revised -
BERRY PANCAKES!
Today is Mo's birthday!
He's 24 today. Yes, a big number, one that he just can't get over.
We've got to pop by a few places before we celebrate his birthday...but not before I made him a yummy breakfast surprise of - yes, you'll find it's quite familiar, but yet revised -
BERRY PANCAKES!
Lusciously thick berry syrup on a stack of pancakes topped with a medley of juicy berries.
Well, without further ado,
I'm off!
Current Mood:
Cheerful
Current Tunes: Cawing of crows outside the balcony
I'm off!
Current Mood:
CheerfulCurrent Tunes: Cawing of crows outside the balcony
@ 12:32 PM
Thursday, June 19, 2008
I ♥ Melbourne Food!
It's been a while since I've been in the mood to blog.
In fact, this would be one of the few periods in mynon-existent academic life that I should be knee deep in previous printed tutorials, head stuck in the middle of my PC monitors, clicking away.
Yes, yes, the last few days of the final semester.
Everyone in class has been cramming since the last week or so. Getting our renders done, making last minute tweaks to our animations, finishing up the paperwork (Yes, contrary to what many think about the creative field, there's quite a bit of paperwork involved. Lots of write ups on idea development, yadda yadda.).
So, blogging shouldn't really be up there on my agenda.
But I digress! I've even managed to clean up alot of the old junk in the template and template contents of this blog, learning a few tricks or two about CSS (I can hear some snickering in the background. So it isn't an epiphany, big deal.) along the way.
It's still got alot of clean up to go, because I'm trying hard to get it to meet the strict standards of XHTML, basically, its a stricter version of HTML, designed to 'clean up' shoddy sub-standard web lingo and set a certain standard to maximise portability to other browsers, like Opera, for example.
Food's been good, too.
Which reminds me what I wanted to post about in the first place.
Food.
Pancake Parlour's Crumbed Fish Fillet -
pan fried fish fillets atop a generous slab of potato pancake
Pancake Parlour's Cheese & Potato Pancake
I love the food in Melbourne. I can't speak for the rest of Australia. I've been to Perth, Sydney, Torquay and Geelong, including the small towns in between such as Wagga Wagga, but I can't for the life of me get used to the differences in food, slight as they might be.
Melbourne food is eclectic, classic and needless to say, delicious!
La Rouge's Vegetable Lasagna: topped with shaved Parmesan cheese. Yum.
You could literally almost walk into any run of the mill cafe by the side of any street, and be served with mouth-watering food.
Of course, many cafes do serve the typical Aussie fare.
Fish and chips, burgers, fries, the ever handy sandwiches.
Chicken Foccacia at some cafe at Black Rock Bay.
Then there are the cafes which serve up breakfasts, in addition to scrumptious DIY sandwiches, baguettes and the such.
A mocha!
Most serve up great coffees to go with your breakfasts.
The best part of it all are, for the most of it, the portions are hearty, the ambiance is great and the view -whether it be of passer-bys' or live performances, always entertaining.
La Rouge's Veggie Big Breakfast -
Eggs any way you like it, blanched spinach, sauteed mushrooms,
grilled tomatoes, hash browns atop a generous slice of panini.
I needn't mention the variety of ethnic foods as well.
Melbourne has got a wonderful mix of ethnicities living side by side (or languishing in racial ghettos. Oh well, you can't have it all.) and you're bound to see all types of cafes, eateries and restaurants bearing some exotic name and dish.
Footscray Best Kebab House serves the best Turkish kebabs!
Gurkhas Nepalese Restaurant - Chicken 'Ma Krim' (Chicken Cream)
Mekong Vietnamese Restaurant's
Chicken Rice Noodle Soup
Mekong has great food. Of course, we have friends telling us that they lace their soup with human 'sperm' but with food this good, its' hard to really care if there is sperm. Of course, there isn't.
Mo, my sister and I have been to countless of restaurants in Melbourne. Italian, Nepalese, Chinese (obviously.), Singaporean (Being Singaporean its obvious we prefer Singaporean cuisine), Malaysian, Vietnamese, Turkish, Arabic, Indian, Sri Lankan, Korean, Indonesian, Japanese, French, "American", Contemporary Australian, Traditional Aussie fare, fusion - just lots - even African food . Some were a long time ago, but many of which we still visit today.
We're pretty open minded with food. Mo may be quite conservative with food but he has surprising dexterity and flexibility when it comes to finding something he finds edible in any cuisine, so despite my lamentations about his 'lack of exploration' in food (just a while ago he actually ate Taiwanese seasoned chicken with tofu, green bean and rice, together with Vegetable tempura. Wow. I think we've crossed over to new boundaries here.
)
I tire of eating just a single type of cuisine. I don't know how some people can do it.
Anyway. I'm thinking about returning to Singapore in a while. Shop, eat, meet friends, rekindle the family spirit and basically just relax.
I can't wait.
Current Mood:
Excited
Current Music: The Potbellez - Don't Hold Back
In fact, this would be one of the few periods in my
Yes, yes, the last few days of the final semester.
Everyone in class has been cramming since the last week or so. Getting our renders done, making last minute tweaks to our animations, finishing up the paperwork (Yes, contrary to what many think about the creative field, there's quite a bit of paperwork involved. Lots of write ups on idea development, yadda yadda.).
So, blogging shouldn't really be up there on my agenda.
But I digress! I've even managed to clean up alot of the old junk in the template and template contents of this blog, learning a few tricks or two about CSS (I can hear some snickering in the background. So it isn't an epiphany, big deal.) along the way.
It's still got alot of clean up to go, because I'm trying hard to get it to meet the strict standards of XHTML, basically, its a stricter version of HTML, designed to 'clean up' shoddy sub-standard web lingo and set a certain standard to maximise portability to other browsers, like Opera, for example.
Food's been good, too.
Which reminds me what I wanted to post about in the first place.
Food.
Pancake Parlour's Crumbed Fish Fillet -pan fried fish fillets atop a generous slab of potato pancake
Pancake Parlour's Cheese & Potato Pancake I love the food in Melbourne. I can't speak for the rest of Australia. I've been to Perth, Sydney, Torquay and Geelong, including the small towns in between such as Wagga Wagga, but I can't for the life of me get used to the differences in food, slight as they might be.
Melbourne food is eclectic, classic and needless to say, delicious!
La Rouge's Vegetable Lasagna: topped with shaved Parmesan cheese. Yum.You could literally almost walk into any run of the mill cafe by the side of any street, and be served with mouth-watering food.
Of course, many cafes do serve the typical Aussie fare.
Fish and chips, burgers, fries, the ever handy sandwiches.
Chicken Foccacia at some cafe at Black Rock Bay.Then there are the cafes which serve up breakfasts, in addition to scrumptious DIY sandwiches, baguettes and the such.
A mocha!Most serve up great coffees to go with your breakfasts.
The best part of it all are, for the most of it, the portions are hearty, the ambiance is great and the view -whether it be of passer-bys' or live performances, always entertaining.
La Rouge's Veggie Big Breakfast -Eggs any way you like it, blanched spinach, sauteed mushrooms,
grilled tomatoes, hash browns atop a generous slice of panini.
I needn't mention the variety of ethnic foods as well.
Melbourne has got a wonderful mix of ethnicities living side by side (or languishing in racial ghettos. Oh well, you can't have it all.) and you're bound to see all types of cafes, eateries and restaurants bearing some exotic name and dish.
Footscray Best Kebab House serves the best Turkish kebabs!There is no shortage of authentic ethnic food - Turkish food is a favourite. Kebabs are delish. Just watching those towers of marinated chicken spinning slowly on a spit over the course of several hours make my mouth water.
Gurkhas Nepalese Restaurant - Chicken 'Ma Krim' (Chicken Cream)One of my favourite foods is the Chicken Cream from Gurkhas', exotic food galore. It's like a strange cross between Chinese and Indian food, they've got potsticker dumplings stuffed with spiced mashed potatoes.
Mekong Vietnamese Restaurant'sChicken Rice Noodle Soup
Mekong has great food. Of course, we have friends telling us that they lace their soup with human 'sperm' but with food this good, its' hard to really care if there is sperm. Of course, there isn't.
Mo, my sister and I have been to countless of restaurants in Melbourne. Italian, Nepalese, Chinese (obviously.), Singaporean (Being Singaporean its obvious we prefer Singaporean cuisine), Malaysian, Vietnamese, Turkish, Arabic, Indian, Sri Lankan, Korean, Indonesian, Japanese, French, "American", Contemporary Australian, Traditional Aussie fare, fusion - just lots - even African food . Some were a long time ago, but many of which we still visit today.
We're pretty open minded with food. Mo may be quite conservative with food but he has surprising dexterity and flexibility when it comes to finding something he finds edible in any cuisine, so despite my lamentations about his 'lack of exploration' in food (just a while ago he actually ate Taiwanese seasoned chicken with tofu, green bean and rice, together with Vegetable tempura. Wow. I think we've crossed over to new boundaries here.
)I tire of eating just a single type of cuisine. I don't know how some people can do it.
Anyway. I'm thinking about returning to Singapore in a while. Shop, eat, meet friends, rekindle the family spirit and basically just relax.
I can't wait.
Current Mood:
ExcitedCurrent Music: The Potbellez - Don't Hold Back
@ 12:35 PM
