Project Food Blog : Challenge # 1 (Ready, Set, Blog!)

When I first received an email from FoodBuzz that they are going to have a contest Project Food Blog for their Featured Publishers I signed up immediately without much hesitation even though I didn’t have the slightest clue of what we are supposed to do. But the idea of being featured on their site, one of the largest food lovers community ever plus the moolah would have made anyone sign up faster than they can say ‘Salmon Quiche!’. So when they finally posted the list of challenges that awaits us, I was feeling extremely worried and I was even thinking of not joining after all. But life’s short and I should try everything in life right, so for the past few weeks I have been thinking of what to write and as always with just two days left to the end of the first challenge of the  contest  I start to feel panicky because I still have no idea what to write urm blog about. Especially when it’s something simple like creating a blog post that defines me as a food blogger and makes it clear why I think I have what it takes to be the next food blog star. But I guess as always when in doubt just be myself and write whatever that comes through my mind. 

So here it goes when I quit my job as a recruitment consultant to be a full time stay at home mommy, it never crossed my mind that I’ll take up blogging but after Ashley turned 1 and well during the time I was doing some soul searching, to find the old Alesia and not just Alesia, the mommy ,I found again my long lost love; cooking while surfing the TV channels absentmindedly and came upon a cooking show.  I gingerly picked up the spatula and work my long forgotten magic touch with the wok, first it was just the dishes my mom would make and the ones I’m most comfortable cooking (Read:poison free, edible dishes) like these

(From the top : stir-fried French beans, Lotus Root and Peanut Soup, Chicken in Oyster Sauce)

ah yes, the days before I learned more about food photography or even the art of taking pictures and of course the days before the birth the almighty tool; a DSLR camera. Then the creative Aquarian in me starts to show herself by creating dishes such as these

(From the top : Cod Fish with Mushroom Cream Sauce, Fried Pasta Chow Mein Style and Chickpeas Salad)

Yea I know the cod fish looks preeeettty appetizing alright. Anyway then I was beginning to figure out the functions of a point n shoot camera and was again trying to be artistic and featured Ashley for the very first time.

Aww see how cute she was, and that reminds me how time flies! She has more hair now. :D I soon remember how therapeutic it is to prepare the ingredients, cooking the dishes and of course seeing how my loved ones enjoys the food I’ve made. Sometimes they even ate the ones that made me go ‘hmm I hope it taste ok’. So it was no surprise I started showcasing the food pictures on my Facebook profile, and when the hubs bought the SLR camera it just fueled my curiosity with food photography. No surprise the pictures turned out way nicer and I was hooked!

From not so appetizing pictures to drool-worthy pictures like these

(From the top :Nasi Briyani, Lamb Patty with Cheddar Mash and Honey Mustard Sauce, Rocket Salad, Pan Fried Fish Pasta with Sun dried Tomatoes and Coriander )

Of course it was nice to receive praises and compliments and gradually the praises turned into requests for recipes which was quite difficult for me because I’m a all-throw-inside-the-pot person and I sure don’t measure my ingredients but it’s a challenge which I won’t back away! After much persuasion, I decided to come up with a blog to share all my recipes in one place with my friends and family. It was one of many achievements to come later because for one I was a business student who knows nothing about CSS, HTML, Javascript and yet here I am creating a blog (okaaay, I used a template free design but hey at least I did some tinkering to the original CSS sheet) and two, I didn’t know I had it in me, blogging and certainly I didn’t expect to last this long.

And naturally, once I start to have the hang of all this, I even had this wildest dream that I’ll be like Bree Van de Kamp of Desperate Housewives owning my own catering business. Of course it was a struggle initially because I don’t see myself as a good writer, or a food critic, or even a good food stylist. I find it extremely hard to even write a proper blog post. How am I supposed to put what I’ve cooked into words that people would understand or even make it sounds interesting and able to reach out to others. But I guess I must be doing something right after all, with 60 posts later, 752 fans and counting! a spot at the well known food porn sites (opps!) (foodgawker and Tastespotting) here I am drafting my first ever challenge in the world of culinary.

As I looked back the past year, I would never thought I can come this far as a food blogger, heck even as a blogger itself seeing that it was never my choice of life’s career :D. So do I think I have what it takes to be the next food blog star, yes reasons being I am willing to learn, I can take whatever challenges life throws at me (remember when I took part  in a beauty pagent like contest for mommies a couple months back?It was hmm challenging indeed to strut on the runaway and get everyone to vote for me), I’ve done so much in the span of one year for someone who had no clue whatsoever about blogging, but the most important reason it’s that I would go all out especially when it comes to cooking for my loved ones even though it means having to stay up more than 2 nights just so I can give the best birthday party a toddler could ever asked for. Come on, the first thing people look for when they attend a party isn’t the decorations or if there’s a clown it’s always the FOOD!

So to each and everyone who has been encouraging me to keep on doing what I love most, remember to vote for me yea! I so want to win the prize money so that I can start my own catering service :)

Love,

Lamb Patty with Cheddar Mash and Honey Mustard Sauce

Inspired by the rare occasion of fine dining we had for our anniversary celebrations I decided to replicate the experience but using only the everyday ingredients well except for the lamb patties. And would you believe me if I were to tell you this was just my lunch? With Ashley happily having her afternoon nap and all the chores done, I wanted to give myself a nice treat, nice food treat. So while rummaging through the fridge and pantry I found lamb patties, some Cheddar and potatoes voila! I got myself a delish dish that looks oh so gourmet but simple to make. And I suppose if you want to make your lamb/pork/chicken/turkey/tofu patties, you can hmmm maybe I should make this again soon.

(Serves 1) 
You Need
1 lamb patty (or any patties of your choice)
3 white button mushrooms, brushed and sliced thinly
1 russet potato, skin peeled and cubed
3-4 tablespoons of milk
2 cubes of butter
1/2 cup of grated Cheddar
2 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
olive oil
salt & black pepper to taste.

How To
1. Cook the potatoes until tender, add in the milk, butter. Mash well before adding in the Cheddar, season with salt and pepper. (Cheddar has a sharp taste so go lightly with the salt ya). Set aside.
2. If you have a griddle, grill the patty and set aside, but if you are like me who use a non-stick pan, pan fry the patty. Using the same pan sauté the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper.
3. To make the sauce, simply mix well the honey, Dijon mustard along with the olive oil.

To Assemble 
Place the patty on the plate, follow by the mash and top it off with the mushrooms. Drizzle the honey mustard sauce over and serve.

Now you can have fine dining like food from the comfort of your home.

Curry Chicken (Kari Ayam)

I used to feel intimidated to cook curries only because I’ve seen how my mom used to make them. You need to slave over the stove cooking the rempah (chilli & spice paste) till it’s fragrant before adding in the chicken and coconut milk. Then you need to keep a close watch ,stirring the curry making sure it doesn’t burn at the bottom. And I honestly think a good curry is hard to master let alone a yummy great one! So it took me years before I have the courage to make some on my own, well and also when you miss your mom’s curry and the ones sold outside just doesn’t cut it.

So one day over the phone, I asked her for the recipe and typically it goes like this tumbuk(pound) all the ingredients, masak (cook) the rempah until wangi (fragrant) and then add in the chicken and curry powder, and santan (coconut milk) along with the potatoes. Cook until the potatoes are soft when pierced with a fork. She make it sounds so easy!But truthfully it actually is, once you have the hang out of it. I’m beginning to enjoy cooking curries these days, it’s very therapeutic; the smell the aroma of the spices wafting from the stove and filling up the kitchen. This recipe has been tweaked from another curry dish I have on my blog and to my readers in Melbourne who asked for the recipe, here you go!

(Serves 4-6)  
You Need
1.5 kg of chicken, cut into bite sized pieces 
3–4 potatoes, cut into medium size cubes 
3–4 tablespoons of oil 
2 cups of santan (thick coconut milk or you may substitute with full cream milk) 
1 litre of water 
 
Spices (A) – ground :
5 shallots
5 onions
4 candlenuts (you may substitute this with macadamia nuts)
3 tablespoons chilli paste (you may omit with 5 tablespoons of meat curry powder this if you can’t get chilli paste)
2½ tablespoons meat curry powder
 
Spices (B):
4cm piece cinnamon stick
3 star anise
8 cloves
1 stalk of curry leaves
12-15 cardamom pods
* for the spices you don’t have to get exactly the amount stated here, it’s merely an estimation
salt and sugar to season 

Chilli Paste
200 grams dried chillies, soaked in hot water for an hour
100gram red chillies seeded   

How To
1. Heat cooking oil in wok or heavy based pot.
2. Add in spices (B), stir fry constantly at low heat till fragrant
3. Add in Spices (A) and continue frying until the oil rises.
4. Add in the chicken along with the potatoes and mix well until meat is coated with spices.
5. Stir in thin coconut milk and let it simmer until the meat’s tender and potatoes are soft. It would take about an hour and remember to stir occasionally
6. Pour in thick coconut milk, bring to a boil.
7. Serve and enjoy!

Cooking Tutorials
 Ingredients

Santan (Coconut Milk)   How To

Pounded/Blended onions

Candlenut should be added in when you sauté the rempah but like always I forgotten about it until I realized something is missing!       

To make chilli paste.
Blend the chillies until smooth, and this would make about a jar. The chilli paste can be used for dishes like Sambal Ikan Bilis, Kangkung Belacan or any dishes that calls for chilli paste. Now you don’t have to get those store brought ones, I never thought making my own chilli paste would be this easy!

Nasi Lemak (Steamed Coconut Rice)

Finally, the long awaited recipe!After the lunch yesterday, I come to realize that it’s definitely worth the effort in making this national dish of Malaysia. Having to finally try out the most-talked about Nasi Lemak in town, I was left with disappointment. Not only it’s over-priced, it’s also over-hyped! Like what my hubs said the rice is not fragrant enough. 

And being such a Nasi Lemak lover, the most important part of what makes a great Nasi Lemak is definitely the rice followed by the sambal. So don’t sting with the pandan leaves, it’s the key ingredient along with the coconut milk in making this yummy rice dish. 

(Serves 4) 
You Need 
 4 cups rice (preferably Basmati rice), washed and drained in a colander
5 cups coconut milk (2 grated coconut milk mixed with about 3 cups of water) or if you couldn’t find fresh coconut milk you may use 1 canned or packet of coconut milk.
3-4 screwpine leaves (pandan leaves) washed and tied into a knot
1 onion, quartered
salt to taste
1 cinnamon stick, optional
4 cloves, optional

Condiments
6 hardboiled eggs, halved ( I know this recipe serves 4 but because I love to eat my Nasi Lemak with hardboiled eggs, so I cooked extra)
1 cup ikan bilis (dried anchovies) washed  

How To

1. Like how you usually would cook rice using a rice cooker, just pour in the coconut milk and mix with the rice well along with the other ingredients. There is an old wives tales that you should never lift the lid to check when the rice is cooking otherwise the rice won’t come out right but if you are a daredevil go ahead just to make sure there’s enough liquid. Once it’s cooked, just fluff the rice slightly and set aside. 

2. Fry the ikan bilis until crisp and serve with the steaming hot Nasi Lemak along with Sambal Ikan Bilis, Kangkung Belacan, Ayam Goreng Berempah, and hardboiled eggs.

The vegetable dish here is not kangkung belacan but stir-fry pea sprouts because I didn’t have kangkung in the fridge.

  Clockwise from the top ; Kangkung Belacan, Ikan Bilis, Sambal, Hardboiled Eggs

Cooking tutorials Note
If the rice is undercooked or wet, you can steam the rice.  

Coming up tomorrow, a recipe requested by a reader from Melbourne