Fabulous pasta

This pasta dish was put together when cleaning out the fridge. It is so unbelievably tasty.

The sun-dried tomatoes which I found in the freezer(!) K bought these in South Africa like a year ago and I had forgotten all about them. Anyway, they looked alright. I soaked them in warm water until softened (about 15 minutes) and sliced into thin slivers.

These chili flakes are the last remnants of the food items we brought back from our holiday in Tuscany almost two years ago! I found them in the freezer too. This is why I am always complaining about the lack of storage space in the freezer!! Anyway, I am sure you can do better by using fresher produce.

500 g pasta

1 can tuna chunks in light olive oil, shredded roughly with fork

1/2 cup of sun-dried tomatoes, soaked and sliced

1/2 cup diced celery

4 cloves garlic, sliced thinly

2 tablespoon pine nuts, lightly toasted

2 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

salt and pepper

Cook pasta in salted boiling water until your preferred softness.
Drain; keep a cup of the pasta water.
Heat oil in pan; add garlic and fry lightly.
Add in the celery (leave some for garnishing), tomatoes and tuna.
Cook for about 2 minutes; add the grated cheese.
Season with chili flakes, salt and pepper.
If the sauce is too dry add some of the pasta water.
Put the pasta into the sauce and mix well.
Dish out individually.
Serve garnish with more cheese, chili flakes, celery and pine nuts.

Jo

Steamed chicken served with garlic sauce

If you ever chance upon a young fleshy kampong (village) chicken, the best way to cook the bird would be to steam (not boil) it with a few slivers of ginseng (or dang gui) and season with rock salt.
Cut the chicken lengthwise through its back and press down on the breast to flatten.
Place on a stainless steel steaming plate, rub with rock salt and add the herb.
Steam at high heat for 20 minutes or until juice runs clear when inserting a skewer into the thickest part of thigh.
Chop into 4-6 pieces and serve with the best garlic sauce.

This is our family all-time favourite sauce for steamed chicken.

1 bulb garlic, chopped
1 sprig spring onion, chopped
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce (the thick one used for bah kut teh)
1 tablespoon oil

Place garlic, onion and soy sauce in a heatproof dish. Set aside.
In a small saucepan heat the oil to just smoking and pour immediately onto the garlic/soy sauce mixture. It will sizzles. Give it a stir and there you are, the perfect sauce to accompany the steamed chicken.
No spring onions shown in the above picture because I ran out of the green stuff. Didn't realise the recent heavy downpours had totally damaged my garden supply.

For my dipping sauce, I added some chopped birds' eye chili for that buzz...

Jo

A Day In A Chicken Farm, Keningau

This is a 'kong gian gai kung', bald-neck rooster (wonder if it is related to the bald eagle? But then again, the bald eagle is not bald at all...). This bird, as you can see is bald from just below his crown down to half his neck. This species of chicken has a firmer, tastier flesh and is fantastic for the famous steamed Hainan chicken dish!! (;=p) This lucky chap is one of the chickens that live in a small farm in Keningau where they get to roam around freely.

These pretty hens, their feathers have the most beautiful sheen.

We spent two lovely days in Daniel's home cum farm in Keningau last week. Keningau is a small town in the interior of Sabah about 2 hours car ride from KK.
We were able to see the chicken farm he set up on a one acre piece of land next to his house and veggie plot. He has been supplying chicken to us for the last 2 years and only now, we get to see where they came from. The chickens are all free to roam around in this big plot of land and they looked so happy and healthy.

Free range is a method of farming where the animals are allowed to roam freely instead of being kept in cages.

The feed for the chicken is a special mixture which include crushed corn, heads of ikan billis (small dried fish) and etc.

The chicken feed being mixed together in an old manual cement mixer.

Meal time

The chicken being fed the old-fashion way. The shelter at the back ground is for the chickens at night and during heavy down pour. It is not used to confine the chicken as the gate is not closed.

Time to take a nap under some shade after lunch. What a life!

Look at this adult rooster (there are only 2 in this farm) strutting to a most attentive audience!! Hmm...he must know he is a rare species in this community.

He is constantly surrounded.

Remember the eggplant post with the worm-casting article? This is one of the plants where the eggplants came from. Still many more to harvest.

French beans which were later harvested for our dinner. Simply fried with garlic...deliciously sweet and crunchy.

These two rows of tomatoes plants are part of Daniel's revolutionary method of worm-cast farming.

Beefsteak tomato plant

Cucumber

Choi sam

Long beans

Below are some of the many flowers I found planted in all corners surrounding the compound of the house. They can truly light up a day and I just have to share with you.

Gorgeous local orchid

Dahlia

Chrysanthemum

Phalaenopsis, my all time favourite orchid

A budding iris

It was a wonderful trip that took us away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life in the city and gave us a chance to come a little closer to nature. Our sincere thanks to Daniel and Doria for their warm and kind hospitality.

K and Jo

Honey Lemon Chichen

This is a honey lemon chicken without any honey but tastewise, just as good.
I started the dish without checking the availability of the ingredients. Only when honey was needed that I started digging for it in the fridge. Oops, ran out (should have known, Leanne and her salad making binge) never mind just improvised with rock sugar. Heh! They didn't even know the difference! Bryan, a hard-to-please eater, even gave the thumbs-up. Maybe that's how some restaurants do it to cut cost.

2 chicken thighs or breast, chopped into small pieces

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 egg

salt and pepper

1-2 tablespoon cornflour

oil for deep frying

Sauce:

2 tablespoon sugar (or rock sugar)

juice and zest of 1 lemon

2 slices ginger

1 tablespoon shao xing wine

1 tablespoon soy sauce

Marinate chicken pieces with soy sauce, egg, salt and pepper for at least 30 minutes.
Add cornflour to coat the chicken. Deep fry chicken pieces in hot oil until golden and crisp on medium heat. The fried chicken meat should be crisp outside but soft and moist inside (make sure the pieces are small enough to cook fast like, within 4-5 minutes). Drain and keep aside.

Now, put sugar in a clean, dry pan and heat until just caramelised (become honey-like).
Add the lemon juice and ginger; stir until the caramelised sugar is dissolved.
Add the wine, soy sauce and the lemon zest; cook stirring until slightly thickens.
Put chicken in and coat well with the sauce.
Dish out and serve.

Jo

Rosemary and Rock Salt Focaccia

Mui Fong bought a cookbook from Doulos the last time it docked here in KK. After she unwrapped and flipped through, she passed it to me and said ' Here, cook something from here and call me for dinner'. That's what sisters are for.

It is a book on whole foods for health and healing. I was not too keen on recipes from these because healthy usually means bland in my book. Anyway, it IS a cook book so I browsed through it and found this focaccia bread recipe which sound so very promising. I was absolutely amazed how well it turn out. That certainly taught me not to judge a book by it's cover.

Rosemary and Rock Salt Focaccia
300g bread flour (I used 1/3 wholemeal + 2/3 bread flour - makes it healthier still)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried yeast
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 sprigs rosemary, leaves only, chopped
10 black olives, pitted and roughly chopped - optional
1 tablespoon olive oil
~180ml water

I did 2x the recipe because I know the amount given is probably only enough for three in my family. Put all the above ingredients into a mixer with a dough attachment and mix for about 7-10 minutes (use those bread makers if you have one but just for the kneading and take the dough out to proof and shape). I then hand-kneaded the dough for another 5 minutes (an excuse to play with the dough) until it is smooth and shiny with a springy touch. That is one reason why I never get a bread maker, just can't resist the kneading - I actually find it therapeutic and a great way to give my biceps a work out!
Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean dish cloth. Leave to rise for 30-45 minutes, until the dough has doubled in size.

Turn out dough and knead lightly again for 1-2 minutes. Roll out to an oval (or rectangular) shape about 1 1/2 cm thick. Place onto a greased baking tray, cover loosely and leave it for 25-30 minutes to rise again.
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.

For the topping
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons rock salt
1 sprig rosemary

Make indentations with fingers all over the top of dough. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil all over the top, then sprinkle with the rock salt and rosemary.

Bake for 25 minutes until golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool and spoon the rest of the remaining olive oil over the bread.
Loved the scent of rosemary and garlic mingling with the aroma of freshly baked bread that permeated through the whole house.

Eat it on its own or do like Leanne, dipped into olive oil+balsamic vinegar. It just occurred to me that this bread would be so good with the roast lamb plus the drippings and also the moussaka!! Must bookmark it with these recipes...

Jo

Bizjadi Av Centre, Segama

Over the weekend, a few of us ladies were to prepare lunch for a lecturer. TS brought along some gorgeous looking serving bowls and plates.

As usual, I droolz...

As always, I couldn't help but ask where she got them, expecting her to say 'Australia' as she frequently shuttles between here and Melbourne.

My glasses almost dropped when she said 'Segama'. What, Segama, KK? Yes.

But where, where in Segama? Apparently in a household electrical store very near Leton. Everyone in KK knows Leton, right?

OK, came Monday, headed downtown to Segama first thing in the morning. Not very familiar with this part of town and but I do know where Leton is and that helped.

Found an electrical store a few shops away. Before entering, just outside the store I saw laid out on the floor at the store's 'kaki lima' - sidewalk, in cardboard boxes, a whole arrays of the treasure I came looking for!! They were mostly white (great!) in all shapes and sizes (double great!!). They had to be examined one by one for flaws and cracks as I detected quite a few (not so great).

So, for the next half an hour or so, I was squatting in front of the shop rummaging through this pile of heaven (like a child in a toy store), good thing I wore pants. Managed to get a total of 23 pieces of assorted shapes and sizes. Christmas came early!!
For your convenience I noted down the name of the shop but I don't know how long the stock would last and it look like a one-off kind of sale. The pieces cost between Rm 2 to Rm 7 depending on the size. A steal.

My favourite. Two identical square plates in different sizes.

The long oval-shaped plate is about 30cm length and 15cm width. Prefect for a fish dish. The egg shaped and tear-drop bowls are so adorable I couldn't resist, I will find a use for them.

The wavy plate would be great for photo shoot, any food would look fantastic in it.

No, this is not another recipe. Just trying out the new dishes. A simple stir-fried veggie and a braised mushroom with rice wine. An ordinary meal served in extraordinary dishes - a feast for the eyes and of course, they tasted phenomenal too, seriously! ;=)

Jo

Pumpkin with Balsamic Glaze

I love pumpkin any way it is prepared - stewed, roasted, boiled or even raw but my family does not eat it unless it is totally unrecognisable either finely chopped up in bolognese sauce or totally drowned in lamb stew.

That was, until I stumbled upon this method of cooking that is so easy and ingeniously simple but oh soo soo delicious.

I must have seen this done on television probably with some other veggies (carrots?) but not quite sure on what program.

The natural sugar in the pumpkin caramelises beautifully when pan-fried so no sugar is required.

Pumpkin with Balsamic Glaze

300 g pumpkin, peeled and sliced (1 cm thick)

2 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper

Heat oil in a heavy-based frying pan.

Place pumpkin in the pan in one layer; fry at medium heat until soft and golden brown on both sides.

Sprinkle on salt and pepper to taste.

Stir in the balsamic vinegar to deglaze for a minute.

Dish out; garnish with chopped parsley or coriander and serve.

They liked it so much that we even had it for breakfast. Served with eggs, crackers and fruits.

Jo

Moussaka

This is specially for those souls who dislike or maybe, just not too fond of eggplant. Try this and you might probably change your mind about this veggie. These were the last of the eggplants from Daniel and I saved the best for last.

Moussaka

5-6 eggplant

Cut into 1/2 cm thick rings. Place them in a colander, sprinkle with salt, mix well and leave for 30 minutes. Rinse and pat dry. Drizzle oil on the eggplant slices. Heat a frying pan or a griddle, cook eggplant in batch until golden on both sides. Keep aside.
For the filling, I used a bolognese sauce and simple white sauce (like in a lasagne dish). Here is the recipe:

Bolognese sauce

500 minced beef
3 tablespoon olive oil
1 carrots - optional, chopped finely

100 g pumpkin - optional, chopped finely

1 big onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 can peeled tomatoes (425 g)

4 tomatoes, skinned and chopped

2 tablespoon tomato paste

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 cup beef stock or water

1 teaspoon dried oregano

salt and pepper

Heat oil in a pan; saute onion until fragrant; add garlic and oregano. Add beef, browned and add in all the rest of ingredients except salt and pepper. Bring to boil, lower heat and simmer for at least 45 minutes. The longer the sauce is cooked the better the flavour. Season with salt and pepper.

Medium-thick white sauce

4 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
75 g unsalted butter

800 ml milk
salt
pepper
grated nutmeg

Melt the butter in a saucepan. As soon as it melts, add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon for about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the milk. Return to the heat, stirring constantly with a whisk, and continue stirring until the sauce begins to thicken - just creamy. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg
Preheat oven to 170 C.

To assemble the moussaka:

Place a layer of eggplant slices at the bottom of a oven-proof dish, then smooth a layer of tomatoes sauce follow by the white sauce. Repeat until all the eggplants are used up, end the layering with the white sauce and sprinkle some grated cheese (parmesan or chedder) over it.
Put into the oven on a baking tray (to catch any spillover) and bake for 45minutes.

It will be bubbling when it is done and if you have filled it up to the brim like I did you will be thankful for the baking tray.

Enjoy with a good solid wholemeal bread and a leafy salad (best without any dressing).

Have a good weekend!

Jo