Juicy Grilled Chicken 101

I dont really like to cook boneless chicken breast because its too 'fleshy' for curries and masak kicaps and such. BUT i love to simply grill them and eat them warm with good bread or lightly dressed mixed greens.

I made this last week with lightly salted brussel sprouts.

Chicken breast ( no skin )
Honey
Soy Sauce
Salt
Pepper

I usually try to flatten the chicken a little using the sides of my butcher knife just so i get a thinner piece that'll cook faster . ( speed is always of the essence in this house )
I marinate all of the above for 1 hour ( or sometimes 5 minutes if i'm in a hurry )
Heat grill on medium slow gas. Place chicken skin side down if you're leaving skin on.
Let it cook on one side for maybe 3 minutes ( depend on size ) before you turn and cook the other side.
Best to give it a good poke to peek n see if the inside is cooked. Let rest before you serve.
Dont overcook otherwise you get tough chicken meat .

VERY IMPORTANT Once removed from grill , let it 'rest' on the plate for at least 5-10 minutes before you slice . If you slice it immediately , all the chicken juice will escape and you'll be eating dry chicken. By letting it rest , all the juices is absorbed back into the meat and your chicken will be very very juicy .

Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes

This is probably as close as i can get to the IHOP's pancakes i used to enjoy on freezing winter mornings back in Madison. If you follow the instructions to the letter , no way you can mess this up. The only thing to remember is test a small ladle first on the pan to test for the right heat. You can actually see the pancakes 'rise' when you flip it over. My kids LOVE LOVE LOVE them . Best eaten with what else other than maple syrup and cold butter ( not honey and majerin ye )

You need :-

1 cup flour

2 tbsp fine sugar

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 egg

2 tbsp butter (melted)

¾ cup milk

2 tbsp white vinegar

Add vinegar to milk and leave it for 5 minutes. The milk will look ‘bad’  but it’s supposed to look like that. That’s how I make buttermilk. 

Mix Flour , sugar , baking powder and soda bicarbonate.

Melt butter . Beat egg into butter . Then add this egg/butter mixture into the  now soured milk mixture.

Pour flour into wet mixture and whisk until you get a smooth batter . Like this :-

Heat non stick pan. Spray cooking oil or I just put some oil on kitchen tissue and wipe the pan base with it.

Use ladle and pour some batter on heated pan ( as large as you want your pancake to be )

Wait until edges are set before you flip. You’ll see some bubbles start to form. Flip. Give it about 30 seconds or so before its completely cooked.

When you flip , you can actually see the pancake 'rise' . I love it ! It means my pancake is going to be light and fluffy .

Serve it golden side up.  Best eaten with butter and maple syrup.



This is the recipe I’ve been using and it works for me  . It tastes buttery good and when you cook the pancakes , you can actually see them ‘rise’ which is a good thing because you’ll love light and fluffy pancakes .Just remember  to make sure that you flip once the edges are set and use medium low gas. Otherwise you wont get that golden , sunny pancakes like IHOP has J

Recipe : TriColor Beans and Prawn Salad

Umar was admitted to DEMC for Rotavirus recently which means I was stuck with hospital food for 3 solid days. Lucky for me DEMC offers room service since it'd be almost impossible for me to leave Umar by himself to get food . One of the salad that I ordered after much contemplation was a plate of ThreeBeans & Prawn salad. I didnt expect much from a hospital menu , especially when it comes to salads. Nonetheless , i was pleasantly surprised to find the simply prepared salad fresh , well seasoned , prawns juicy and its portion filling.

RECIPE

Very simple.
U need kidney beans ( drained ) , Chickpeas ( drained ) and Green beans ( if frozen, thaw and blanch Dont use canned beans ) , thinly sliced onions and tomatoes . Boil prawns in lightly salted water , drain .

Scatter everything over a plate of green salad ( i think butterhead works best for this recipe )
Squirt Thousand Island salad dressing all over.
Done

Told you its simple.

For mint tea , just add a bunch of fresh mint into your tea.

Recipe : Chilli Crab

Anyone who knows me probably knows my favourite seafood dish , chilli crab . Anyone who knows me well probably also know that I am allergic to my favourite food - seafood. Here's a recipe that I use when making chilli crab for the family.



I cook this dish pretty often . Most of the time I get my fresh flower crabs from the wet market at Seksyen 6 Shah Alam. My 4 yr old Umar gets a kick from picking out crabs from the tray . He can tell if they have eggs , 'boys' or 'girls'. Anyway , here's a simplified recipe of how i make MY chilli crab.


Ingredients

Crabs ( 5-6 pcs )
Chilli sauce
Oyster sauce
Dried Chilli paste ( cili boh 1 tsp)
Red Onions ( 10 ) blend
Garlic (3) blend
Ginger ( an inch ) blend
Galangal ( an inch ) blend
Dried Shrimp ( small handful) blend
Shrimp Paste ( size of 10 cent coin)

Chop crabs into two. My kids dont eat claws so i tend to separate the claws from the body too . Put in place and steam. Make sure you catch all the drippings on the plate . They'll flavour the sauce nicely.

Heat 5 tablespoon of oil . Add 1 tsp chilli paste .
Add all the finely blended ingredients. Add shrimp paste
Add 1/3 bottle of chilli sauce  ( i like Maggi ) and 1/4 bottle oyster sauce. well here's where you use your judgement . if you like it spicy add more chilli sauce . If you're serving kids like us , go easy on chilli sauce and add more oyster sauce. Thin the sauce with a bit of water.
Add the steamed crabs and its drippings.
Add salt & pepper to taste

Extra : You can beat an egg and stir into the sauce in a thin stream right at the end. But you'll need a slightly looser sauce for this , so add a lil bit more water if necessary.