Roast chicken with honey and pepper

Sometimes I thinks simple foods are absolutely the best as I really don't have much time to fuss over it and moreover, I would rather spend more time playing with my baby. However, as food is also essential and cooking nice food just make me feel better especially when my family enjoyed them. Before landing on this seashore i would not know how to roast a chicken, what more to check out the recipes online. Whenever there is a craving for roast chicken there is always Kenny Rogers, Cold Storage selection and of course little restaurants all over the city. Here it is totally different when you have a craving you would have to start cooking it yourself from the very basic to the most complex.

Coming here have both been a hard lessons for me as there are also some very small areas of happiness. Mostly, i miss home and some time resent the feeling of being trap here. So i learned to cook better and tried more complex dishes.

This recipe that I am going to share is really one of the easiest and time saving.

Ingredients:

• one whole chicken about 1.1kg
• 2 medium size ginger pound roughly
• 8 cloves of garlic pound roughly
• 6 teaspoons of slight soy
• 4 teaspoons of oyster sauce
• pepper generous amount
• 2 stalk of rosemary
• 3 leaves of cinnamon
• juice of a lemon

Methods

• Put the clean chicken with all the marinate and leave it for 2 hours
• Place the chicken in a baking dish and brush a thin layer of oyster sauce on top of the chicken skin and sprinkle a generous layer of pepper on top
• leave it in the griller
• Temperature of 140C for 80 minutes

Serve with rice or potatoes wedges and salad for a truly restaurant meal at home. Bon appetite!

Fish with palm wine sauce

This is rather uncommon as palm wine is really common in this part of the world and people here drink them neat, the thing with palm wine is nobody really know the percentage of the alcohol content in the drink so better not try this. However, this is good to cook with according to hubby.
So last night I have decided to use the palm wine which was a gift to cook my fish and Ola.. the taste is yummy more like the Chinese home made rice wine... gosh it made me miss mom's rice wine steam chicken with ginger.. this is another recipe that I would share it at another time.
For now this is my bake fish in palm wine sauce.

Ingredients:

• A slice of red snapper about 400gm with bone
• 2 inches of ginger slice thinly
• 3 teaspoons of light soy
• pepper for taste
• 50 mls of palm wine

Methods:

• Place the red snapper in a baking dish
• Pour in the palm wine and light soy and sprinkle the ginger on top of the fish together with pepper
• Let it sit for 10 minutes
• Bake in the oven for 40 minutes at 140C

Serve hot with rice and a side stir fry veggies for a complete meal.

Sandwich..

Frankly, I really don't know when we started this bring lunch to work business and it is usually a small sandwich. Of course when we were in Singapore there were load of choices we could have ham and cheese, tuna, salmon even the exotic ones like pate sandwich.

Here in Seychelles we have to be innovative with sandwich making as it is really hard to get good ham or bacon. I have since try out other fusion sandwich filling that is yummy at the same time nutritious for us as a lunch meal.

So I am going to share this really easy to make chicken sandwich filling. Start by getting some really fresh chicken breast you can either boil them to cook or griller them. This one is made with simple griller chicken breast.

• 2 pieces of clean chicken breast
• 2 teaspoons of light soy
• 1 teaspoon of oyster sauce
• pepper for taste
• 6 teaspoons low fat mayonnaise
• a dash of hot pepper sauce or Peri Peri spicy sauce

Method:

• Marinate the chicken breast with light soy, oyster sauce and pepper
• Put in the griller at 180C for 35 minutes
• Let it cool and tear it into small fine pieces
• Put in a bowl mix it with mayonnaise and hot pepper sauce mix it together
• Leave it in the fridge can last for a week

Simple and easy way to make a sandwich filling that is cheap and economical at the same time.

Bake pork chop in red wine and mayonnaise

Last night I have a last minute change of menu as Hubby has a late evening meeting again and baby was cranky so I have to do a fast bake pork chop instead of fish dish with rice. While I was pondering what to put in the marinate, I saw an open bottle of red wine in the wine fridge so I decided to use that instead. However, I know it sound weird to combine red wine with mayonnaise, frankly that were what I could find so I decided not to go with the normal and give it a new fusion taste.

The end result was finger licking good, hubby enjoyed his share so much that he even chewed on the bone. As for baby she was looking for all the juicy bites from our plates even thought she already had her share. It was such a good feeling when you have a nicely cook meal that you can relax and enjoy with the family.

Here is the recipe for this fusion pork chop.

Ingredients:

• 5 pieces of pork chop
• 6 pieces of small cinnamon leaves
• 3 teaspoons of oyster sauce
• 3 teaspoons of light soy
• 2 teaspoons of low fat mayonnaise
• 1 glass of red wine
• pepper for taste
• a splash of olive oil

Method:

• Marinate the clean pork chops with oyster sauce, light soy, mayonnaise, red wine, pepper and olive oil for 30 minutes or longer if time allow
• Line the baking dish with cinnamon leaves
• Put the marinated pork chops in a single layer on top of the cinnamon leaves
• Bake it in the oven at 200C for 40 minutes

I used cinnamon leaves to line the tray to give it a light fragrant to my pork chops but I don't want it to over power the taste and smell of the other marinate. You can leave out the cinnamon leaves if there are none availables.

Grill black pepper chicken legs on pandan leaves

As usual when you have a hubby who is 10 times busier each day and you are stuggling to make sure dinner is on time and the kid is fed and happy, it just seem difficult to get a really nice meal on the table. Since we have been here I have learned to make my food simple and yummy at the same time. Black pepper roast chicken was our favourite when we were in Singapore and of course you could get it even at the supermarket.

Last night as hubby was out with friend and baby wants to be koala bear to me, I have made a fusion version of pandan and black pepper chicken and it was truly yummy with the nice fragrant of pandan and crackling black pepper.

Here is the recipe, try and enjoy.

Ingredient:

• 4 whole chicken legs
• 8 pieces of clean pandan leaves
• some coarsely pound black pepper
• 4 teaspoons of osyter sauce
• some olive oil

Methods:

• Marinate the chicken with osyter sauce and mix it with the pandan leave
• Leave it for few hours if there is time
• Layer the pandan leaves, then follow by the chicken on single layer on the baking tray
• Sprinkle black pepper generously on the chicken
• Drizzler some olive oil over the chicken
• Put in the grill at 180C for 40 minutes

Best serve with mash potatoes or rice. This is a really favourful and moist chicken legs.

Sweet dessert soup

This is a nice sweet dessert soup that I remembered my mother used to make for us and when we were younger this is truly a nice one especially on a hot day afternoon. Now I have children of my own I likes them to enjoy some of what mom has made for me over the year.
This simple and yummy sweet dessert is now a favourite with my baby girl. It is simple slow broiler barley with fuchok and eggs. We love it cold on a hot afternoon. Baby girl can almost have a bowl all by herself now. For me it is not the sophisticated desserts that you have found in a 5 stars hotel or restaurant that impress me as what is truly wonderful it a simple bowl of nice homemade dessert that is satisfying and nourishing to the body.
In this recipe, the barley is cooling to the body as belief by the ancient medicine people of the yesteryear and fuchok is protein based that is good for the body. Ok let me explained the fuchok is actually the dried layer of bean curd that is usually easily found in any Asian shop, there are a few types for one is for making Dian Xin ,another type for adding in stir fried or curries and last one is for dessert soup.

Here is the simple recipe that I hope you would enjoy.

Ingredients:

• 200gm of pearl barley
• 1 pack of fuchok about 50gm
• 50gm of rock sugar (add more if you like it sweeter)
• 4 eggs

Method:

• Rinse the pearl barley and add a litre of water and let it boil slowly
• Add clean fuchok once the barley started to boil
• Continue to cook in slow fire till fuchok soften and broken into smooth pieces
• Add rock sugar and let it boil till dissolved
• Add one egg at a time and stir gentle while adding the egg
• Make sure the egg is of the egg Benedict consistency

Wala... now you could dish and have it hot or chill it in the fridge for a few hours and have it cool.

Simple lentils in Creole style

This dish was first introduced to me by my then boyfriend who is now my hubby. This is the dish that I remembered him cooking for me the first time. It is really a very simple, nutritious dish that even my baby loves it very much whenever we made it.

This dish is always a hit when we have guests coming for dinner be it with the local Seychellios or our overseas friends. They love that it is so simple and taste super yummy. I normally make it thicker than the local here as it give more favour in each mouth full. This is best served with rice. Do try them and you would be amazed. This recipes is for 3 portions.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of red lentils
• 2 cups of water
• 2 cups of skim milk
• 1 stalk of rosemary
• 5 slices of bacon or 3 pieces of sausage cut in bite size pieces
• salt and pepper for taste
• 1 inch of ginger minced
• 1 small red onion cut in small bits

Method:

• Wash the lentils and put in 2 cups of water cooked it till soft, add more water if necessary.
• once soften add skim milk, onion and rosemary leave it to cook on slow fire for 10 minutes or longer if require
• pan fried the bacon or sausages till slightly brown( you can also leave it as it is I prefer pan fried gave out more favour)
• Add them to the broiling lentils and put in the ginger at the same time simmers for another 10minutes
• Add salt and pepper when ready

The trick here is not to add any salt to the lentil before it soften otherwise you would have a pot of uncooked hard lentils. Here I also choose to use skim milk but you could use other if you prefer. For me a dish has to be simple and healthy for my family.

Happy trying out.

Roast Chicken with a twist

For me roast chicken was never a comfort food. Coming from a new age Chinese family food is always done in the local Malaysian way. Growing up we were never given roasted chicken in the great Western way and being different always felt terrible for growing up me. I was always in loved with friends whose moms are into western food be it just a simple tuna sandwhich, it was special to me. However, as I get older and hopefully wiser I knows deep down I am a very simple Malaysian girl with the passion to eat my local special fusion food like the currys, assam pedas dishes, steam fish in chinese ways, porridge with salted egg and fremented beancurd, strew tofu with eggs and meats.... the list goes on and on.

Since coming here I have limited choice and now I have to learn to cook food that suit both of us. The beautiful act of compromised in a mix marriage. So I have to repeatedly tried out new recipes. This is one of the special roast chicken that I would share with all of you. This is also the roast chicken that my baby girl loves very much.

Ingredients:

• One whole chicken about 1200gm
• 3 pieces of cinnamon leaves (if not available then used 2 stalks of cinnamon bark)
• 6 pieces of garlic crushed
• 2 large white onions cut roughly
• 3 stalks of rosemary
• 3 table spoons of osyter sauce
• 3 table spoons of light soy
• 1 table spoons of honey
• few table spoons of water

Method:

• Clean chicken and add all the ingredients to it and marinate it
• Leave it for 3-4 hours or longer if there is time
• Place the chicken on the grilling pan together with all the aromatics
• Add potatoes or carrots if desired
• Pre heat griller to 240C
• Put chicken in and turn the griller down to 180C
• Griller it for 1 hour and 20 minutes

The smell of this roast would make your mouth water... enjoy!!

Red snapper fish in special sauce

We brought a red snapper from the fishermen who used to sell their catch just at the junction to our place. This one was a big catch.. bigger than our daughter. It was really worth the price we have paid for this big red snapper.
Yes, this fish is the prize fish in Seychelles and it is really expensive so most people would eat them on special occasion and the style prefer here is to grill it over the charcoal by the beach on a picnic.
Well I was thinking really hard how I could make more out of my red snapper so last night I used the part that I have defrosted to cook a simple and healthy fish dish in a very special sauce. Here is my recipe, I think you could use any white meat fish for this sauce.

Ingredients:

• One slice of red snapper with the bone on it about 500gm
• 2 inches of ginger slice in thin strip
• 2 stalks of scallion cut to 2cm length
• 2 stalks of coriander cut roughly
• 4 pieces of cardamon
• 3 pieces of dried chili
• 3 teaspoon of light soy
• 1/2 teaspoon of salty tauchu
• 1/2 teaspoon of honey
• 300mls of water (more if needed)
• salt and pepper for taste

Method

• Marinate the clean and dried fish in salt and pepper for few minutes
• Put in clean oil to heated wok
• Pan fried the fish till golden brown
• Put the fish aside
• Use small amount of oil from the pan fried, fried the ginger strip to golden crispy
• Add in cardamon and dried chili with water and let it broil
• Then add the light soy and honey, salt and pepper to taste
• Put in the fish and continue to cook for 5 minutes
• Add the scallion and coriander
• Cook for 10 minutes

It is ready to be serve on plate of hot rice....yummy... I really like the sauce as it has a hint of hit and some sweetness of the honey and the fish as the end tone. Give it a try... you will love this sauce.

rainbow

while driving to work today we saw a beautiful rainbow and we were excited both mei n me. rainbow is rare and when it is so beautiful it is really breath taking but best of all this is the wonder and mystery of the universe.
i love rainbow and this is special so follow your heart find that special one. this one is for my little sister.... hear the song n the lyric

Somewhere over the rainbow
way up high
there's a land that i heard of
once in the lullaby

Somewhere over the rainbow
skies are blue
and the dreams that you dare to dream
really do come true

Someday i'll wish upon a star
and wake up where the clouds are far behind me
where trouble melt like lemondrops
away above the chimney tops
that where you will find me

Somewhere over the rainbow
bluebirds fly
birds fly over the rainbow

If happy little bluebirds fly
beyond the rainbow
why oh why can i?

So my little one... spread your wing and find that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. be happy always.
love u

rainbow connection...

Why are there so many songs about rainbows
and what's on the other side?
Rainbows are visions, but only illusions,
and rainbows have nothing to hide.
So we've been told and some choose to believe it.
I know they're wrong, wait and see.
Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection.
The lovers, the dreamers and me.

Who said that every wish would be heard
and answered when wished on the morning star?
Somebody thought of that and someone believed it.
Look what it's done so far.
What's so amazing that keeps us star gazing
and what do we think we might see?
Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection.
The lovers, the dreamers and me.

All of us under its spell. We know that it's probably magic.
Have you been half asleep and have you heard voices?
I've heard them calling my name.
Is this the sweet sound that called the young sailors.
The voice might be one and the same.
I've heard it too many times to ignore it.
It's something that I'm supposed to be.
Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection.
The lovers, the dreamers and me.

cappucino...

a nice cuppacino at the end of a hard day seem like a dream especially here are there are no decent cafe that serve a good one. hubby was having this craving at one time and we went and have a really lousy one. from that time onward i told him that i would give him a treat of nice cuppucino when we go home..

homeward journey was rushy and cuppucino was forgetten in the mist of delicious food rush. back on the island cuppucino is back on the mind...so yesterday evening i made a nice mug of cuppucino and he enjoyed it on the balcony with his book, work and laptop. he was surprised that it was as good as the one from coffee bean. argh... it pay off watching hours of coffee program. this is what make me happy when i can make a simple pleasure for another person.....

life is not only about the destination but also how we enjoyed the journey to get there. life's simple pleasure.. be thankful and grateful we can experience them.

life...

life is never a bed of roses but sometimes there are thorns there... then again everything in this universe is useful it is just how we see it. like roses it need the thorns to protect them so it life we need our emotion, abilities, six senses or what ever it is called to protect n care for us.

it is really hard to see the one that you love is hurting because you cant pull them out or even shoulder their hurts but then what is left at the end is faith, hope and courage. faith hope and courage will bind love together and make us strong again to face what we dont think we can face. so my little one have faith, hope and courage... u know who you are.

essentially we all will need that one at at time but love is boundless and endless. life goes on... it the circle of life.

be happy.. spread the joy and have peace always.

Food for thoughts

I am constantly bombarded by people I know in the Seychelles that kept repeating that there is nothing to eat here and we can't make our diet healthy. First and foremost, we have a huge chronic diseases bundle here as many here are obese, hypertensive and diabetic. These are the killers of our generation.


Eventhough I was not a very good cook or even the everyday cook but since coming here I have learned the benefit of a good home cooked meal and the important of eating fresh local produces that are reasonably price. Initially I have hard time coping with cooking and mothering and house work and being myself but I have since love cooking. I even started browsing recipes online and try to modify them to what are available in the Seychelles. Hahaha... you have no complaints from my family we are enjoying the fresh herbs and other local produces.


One of the fabulous food is the fish here, they are freshly caught and you can cook them simply to enjoy the full favour and texture of good fish. Besides, it is also very healthy dish. They are like my baby always said, "Yummiiiii...."


This dish that I am going to share is simple yet keeping it healthy.

Ingredients:

• A medium size fish such as grouper or shoe maker fish
• 2 small tomatoes cubes them in bite size pieces
• 1 small apples cubes them in bite size pieces
• 3 teaspoon of oil
• 3 teaspoon of tomato ketchup
• 2 teaspoon of chilli sauce

Method:

• Heat up the pan add the oil and gently pan fried the fish about 8 minutes on each side or till the skin is brown and cooked
• Removed the fish and put it in a serving dish
• Add the tomatoes and apple into the pan stir fry for a minute
• Add the tomato ketchup and chilli sauce to the tomotoes and apple leave it for 5 minutes
• Pour over the tomotoes and apple in spicy sauce over the fish when serving

This fish dish is good to go with rice as it is not too heavy and there is already nice fruit and vegetable in it.

Busy night

I really hate one of those really busy day that seem to go on and on and finally it spillover into the night. Yesterday was really one of those day that you wish it would end soon... and hey the bed is near yet... it is so far away.

Hubby was running late as usual, more stuff to do, patients are not well need to be review, calls coming in all the time... baby is still at the nanny...rushing to send the specimens to the airport ... it was truly nightmare for me the mummy...

What do you do on a busy night? When dinner seem no where in sight? Baby needs a bath, dinner and bed or not really in that order...and we still have not send off the specimen yet. Argh.... the agony of a working mother.

Lucky in the 10 minutes that we are home to pack up the specimen I have half of the dinner in the grill and worry the rest later when we are home.

So today I would share a fast and simple pork chop with rice recipe that is superb for busy night that both daddy and baby enjoyed very much.

Ingredients:

• 4 pieces of thinly slice pork chops
• 2 teaspoon of osyter sauce
• 1 small pinch of cumin seed
• 2 teaspoon of light soya sauce
• a dash of meat tenderiser
• some pepper and chilli flakes for taste

Methods:

• Mix all the ingredients together with the clean pork chops
• Put it in the griller setting the temperature at 170C for 45 minutes

Wala.... a simple and delicious dinner. Add a side of cucumber tomatoes salad light and refreshing. There is no oil added to this recipe as pork chops do contain some fat so it would naturally provide the part of oil to the dish. It a healthy version to cater for both young and old.

Sugar n spices n all things nice

Sugar and spices are the gentle reminder of the innocent of childhood and what fun life can be. There is always yummy food simple and nice. These are the things that made me happy when I was growing up. I was watching this program on BBC yesterday on childhood foods... hey that remind me of my home town a small sleepy place in the valley among the mountain where food comes in the simplest form and greatest taste.

I remembered that my sister and I used to go to this road side stall to have a yummy bowl of noodle with nice hot soup that has fishballs in it. Or the nice rojak a local veggies salad in peanut and prawn paste with chilies that is so yummy it makes my saliva drool even now. Or the blanched shell fish dip in chillies sauce that is so simple and nice. But the best of the best are the sweet, tangy fruits that are preserved in vinegar and sugar. I always remembered my mom used to give me 10cents .... which is really rich during my kiddy day to buy one of these sweet preserved fruits and I would eat them.. dripping the juices down my chin.

But things are different now, children have sophisticate taste where McDonald and Wendy's seem to be the food for the day and we have a big problem of childhood obesity. Are we as parents to be blame for our eating habits or have we forgotten about simple and nice food?

For me I would love to recreate my love for food and to teach my children the simple food that I have grown up with. Grant... I do have my Mac and KFC once awhile but still the smell and taste of simple home cooked meal always bring the warm of home to my memories.

Here I would like to share a simple and healthy grilled fish recipe:

Ingredients:

• A small slice of red snapper or any fish you prefer
• 2 cm of ginger cut in long strip
• 2 medium tomatoes cut in round slices
• 100mls water
• 3 teaspoons of light soya sauce
• 1 teaspoon of sesame oil
• Pepper to taste

Method:

• Put the clean fish in a small baking dish line the tomatoes on the side
• Lay the ginger on top of the fish
• Add in the water, soya sauce, pepper and sesame oil
• Put in the griller at 120C for 40 minutes
• Or even steam it if you dont have a griller

Once cooked served with rice.