English Herb Chicken

Back home for the weekend and usually its grilled chicken every Sunday night with my family. Mum prepares the raw chicken and I decide what goes into the marinate :)

This week, we decided we'll try a mild English-styled herb chicken.

For the marinate; ground ginger, a squeeze of lemon, garlic, 4 tablespoons of olive oil, 2 tablespoons of oregano, 1 tablespoon of thyme, salt and pepper. My herb of choice would have been rosemary. But since I did not have any of it, I resorted to a combination of oregano and thyme :)

The marinated chicken is left in the fridge for a minimum of 12 hours. Pop it out to let the chicken return to room temperature before grilling it in the oven. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius and grill the chicken for about 45 minutes. Halfway through, glaze the chicken with some olive oil and add sliced tomatoes and capsicum and also some boiled potatoes into the mix for that healthy dose of vegetables.

For a light sauce, combine the leftover marinate with a dose of mustard, lemon, vinegar, and a bit of sugar and pepper. You could mix and match to come up with your own version of it. There is never a set recipe :)

And there you have it, English-styled herb chicken.

2009 New Year BBQ

Okay this is going to be massive backlogging, starting with the New Year's BBQ at home with my family :)


Perfect weather after a period of rain in the afternoon. Now for the customary lighting up of amber.


Fire in motion..



I'm no BBQ extraordinaire but these are the dishes I came up with..

Grilled Lamb Shoulder
marinated with ginger, chili powder, and black pepper

Whats in store..

Grilled Greek Peppers
sliced green capsicums grilled with herb butter and mozzarella cheese


Grilled Baby Back Ribs
marinated with Lee Kum Kee spare ribs sauce, honey, and black pepper

Sorry Max, you ain't getting any from my plate..


Winding down the evening with Claret Red Wine..


And the stillness and calm of the dark sky..


Oh yea, it rained again after that.. Haha, good weather to sleep in ;)

Deepavali Delights : Part II

Here comes the heavy hitters!

The lunch menu was decided by me and mum. A simple but rich and spicy one to say the least.

We actually called the neighbours for lunch at 12pm. But with the usual Malaysian timing, they came at 2.30pm, when all my other guests were suppose to arrive. So it was one hectic session.

So lets begin..


Do excuse the hotel-styled layout. I get too excited when it comes to food sometimes :p


Briyani Rice.. Made with extra long grains mum brought back from Saudi. So good you could eat it on its own. I'm serious!


Chicken Vindaloo.. A Goan style of cooking which has a fiery hot taste combined with a certain level of sourness, giving it a real distinct flavor from all other recipes.


Mum's Classic Mutton Varuval.. Some guests came just to eat this.. Some couldn't make it unfortunately.. Haha.. Honestly, my family has gotten too used to eating this dish at home. So it was mainly for the stomachs of our hungry guests. Good tasting and healthy Mutton Varuval is hard find these day. Using nearly every spice available in the kitchen, it doesn't get better than this.


Prawn Sambal..


rubinho's Fruit Salad.. Diced green and red apples flavored with light mayonnaise and served with salad leaves and sliced cherry tomatoes.

I hope those who came enjoyed the food, atmosphere, company, and celebration of Deepavali.. Thank you and till the next Festival of Lights comes around..

Deepavali Delights : Part I

A celebration of light and colors..

A celebration of good over evil..

Happy Deepavali..


The day starts off with a rub of oil on the head, a shower, and prayers before breakfast. And theres nothing better for Deepavali breakfast than homemade Thosai!


This is one of my attempts on panning out the Thosai flour my mum made. Practice makes perfect! What you are aiming to get is a thin and continuous circular pattern from the middle to the outer rims. Something like the Milky Way galaxy :p


The picture says it all.. Served with Chicken Curry and either Coconut or Tomato Chutney, an ideal starter to a long and eventful day =)


Mum just came back from Saudi Arabia about 10 days before Deepavali. But she managed to prepare some tidbits like Muruku, Coconut cookies, Chocolate Almond cookies, and a few others. Indian candy and Achi Muruku were supplied by close relatives for more variety.


Coconut cookies..


Chocolate Almond cookies..


I want Candy!! I want Candy!!


On the left, Achi Muruku.. And on the right, Muruku.. In the middle, unknown.. I know.. I'm bad at Indian stuff =)


Other fried munchies..

Burger Meat : Ramly vs Farm's Best

Burgers and burger stalls have become a culture and a way of life in Malaysia. You can find them anywhere, from the pasar malam, mamak stalls, food courts to bus stops, hostels and office centers.

Malaysia's famous burger brand has to be Ramly with burger stalls bearing its name and churning out burger variaties such as Burger Double (Double patti) , Special (With egg) and Double Special (Double patti w egg).

Even in Malaysian kitchen's like my own, burgers are made with the patties bought from our supermarkets and me being me, I always go for the most value for money products. I've always used Ramly burger patties until i came across Farm's Best. And so I decided to have them together and compare which burger meat rules supreme!

On your left : Ramly!
On your right : Farm's Best!

NO HITTING BELOW THE BELT!

FIGHT!

I'll get down straight to the facts, comparing both products based on their product labels, Farm's Best beats Ramly hands down with a lower fat and higher protein content. It is also cheaper by 50 cents or so.

Now to the frying pan. I started by first defrosting both patties in the microwave. After defrosting, i noticed Farm's Best was very soft and was falling apart on its edges whereas Ramly was still firm and stiff. I conclude that the higher fat content in Ramly is the reason the patty glues better together.


I use no oil or butter while frying my patties as the melting fat in both of them is more than sufficient. As soon as I put both patties on the pan, i got a whiff of chicken meat aroma. And it came from Farm's Best. I never got that from Ramly before.. Farm's Best is smaller in terms of size as compared to Ramly. But Ramly also releases a lot of oil from its patty, whereas Farm's Best barely releases anything noticeable.

Off the pan and a bite of each into my mouth. In terms of taste and meatiness.. The winner by means of knockout.. FARM'S BEST! Taste way more like chicken meat than Ramly and looking at the overall review, looks like I'll be sticking to Farm's Best until something better comes along ;-)

Home Grilled Chicken

Well as you all know from my other blog, I've just started working. That means less time to hunt for good places to eat, lunch at mediocre Malay shops nearby, and mostly simple home cooked food for dinner. That's why weekends are now a blessing not only for a break, but better food =)

My sis was down for a couple of days before her exams. So she prepared some of her usual western-themed dining. Well its better than the burger and ham combos I make due to time constraints :p


She likes making the marinate for this grilled chicken pieces by herself and I can't interfere. So I'm not sure what she dumps inside. But its tasty, so I'm not complaining :p


Salad with minimal dressing for the health conscious, crispy garlic bread, and home-made pepper sauce completes this simple and fulfilling dinner =)

rubinho's guide to adding pressure to grilling

Just get any clay cup which is adequately heavy and place it on the meat you are grilling. Clay-based items can withstand heat, are easy to wash, and well... are heavier than plastic =)

Hot Diced Frankfurters

Decided to play around again with whatever I had left in the kitchen for dinner.

Fridge = Sardine Sambal, Potato, Italian Sausages

So I grated the potato and fried them in oil. Then fried the diced sausages with the sardine sambal together. And mind you, the sardine sambal is loaded with chili powder =)

Fried it till crispy brown and added the grated potato on top as garnishing. Ate it with a bowl of maggi curry mee. Mmmm...satisfied.

Hot Diced Frankfurters

The Final Version

It has been kinda like a Roti John mayhem recently.. But here's the gem..

Roti John : Chili-fied

Added the illusive chili powder ;-) and damn was it spicy...

My compliments to my partner in crime; PBT =)

New & Improved Roti John

Pearl tried her hand at the original Roti John and did fare better..




Recipe :

1) Sardine (removed of spine bone and excess water)
2) Eggs
3) Onions
4) Salt
5) Butter
6) Bread

Steps :

1) Beat the eggs with sardine, finely chopped onions and a hint of salt.
2) Apply a thin layer of the mixture onto the bread.
3) Apply generous amount of butter to a mildly hot pan and the other side of the bread.
4) Sear the bread till you have a crispy layer of sardine yummy-ness.
5) Serve with a mildly diluted version of chili sauce. Trust me...

Suggestions :

Trying to figure how to add chili powder to the mix... mmm... spicyness... Indians only... :p



Oh yea, she burned a couple of the breads.. Hehe.. But the others tasted guu..uu..uudd =)

Roti John

Well.. Another night.. Another hungry stomach..
Inspiration from Pantai Kundu's Roti John in Melaka; Sardine Sambal + Egg + Salt, apply onto bread and fry over stove with generous amount of margarine =)

Red Devil Mackerel

The time is 1am.. Pearl was bored so she cooked up this hot and spicy Sardine Sambal! There's so much chili in it you could smell it 20 metres away. And it's gonna be my lunch for tomorrow =) Hehe.. Nite ppl..

Valentine's Pork Chop

Let me start by saying I did not celebrate Valentine's Day this year...

It has either lost its meaning for me.. or I am still trying to find the meaning of love..

Either way, it did not mean I couldn't have a bit of fun in the kitchen. Thank you Pearl for indirectly pushing me to make something out of a boring day..

And I present to you my 1st attempt at Pork Chop!

Since I've been critical of foods around the country, its time I got a dose of my own medicine.

The main item consisting of the pork loin marinated in Lee Kum Kee BBQ sauce was flavorful but was a bit salty. My inexperience also resulted in the meat being dry.

Side dishes comprised of Spicy Taiwan Sausage, Mashed Potatoes, Mixed Vegetables, and Garlic Bread.

The Taiwan Sausage, bought from the supermarket and marinated with chili powder, black pepper and lemon gives it one hell of a zang taste! My thanks to Pearl for the preparation of the potatoes, vegetables and garlic bread. Light, simple, tasty and healthy! =)

All in all, although I was disappointed in how the pork loin came out, I'm determined to master the art of cooking up the ultimate chops the world has to offer! So watch out, rubinho is on fire!

Happy Valentine's Day to those who got something out of it. And it doesn't matter if you didn't have a date, its how you spent the day that matters.