The Press: Best Food Junction, March 2009

I am thrilled to share with you, 2 of my blog post which was recently published in Best Food Junction magazine in its March 2009 issue. It was something unexpected, until they contacted me to give me some complimentary copies of the March issue. Boy oh boy was I excited. Thank you, BFJ.com team! :-)

Actually, I'm impressed by the magazine as it not only talks about food, but it gave a good exposure of Malaysian food bloggers. We all love sharing about the food we cook or eat. I think this sort of exposure is very beneficial to us who are really into writing about food and dining. I realised this food blog holds a big interest in my life now - because I love this hobby of mine very much. To me, personally, I see so much potential in Malaysian bloggers - that we can contribute not only about food, but about so many other areas of interest as well.

Here's 2 of the blog post published, with link to my original post :-)
(Click on the images to see a larger view of the article)

Japanese Buffet Dinner @ Fu-Rin, Holiday Inn SubangCalifornia Pizza Kitchen, KLCC

Chicken & Mushroom Fusilli

Pasta. My comfort food anytime. Love to have it for dinner time. I think pastas are healthy. What more when we add fresh ingredients to it. F loves creamy pasta sauce so last nite, we had pasta for dinner. Pasta sauces are quite expensive but nevertheless... I can't help myself once in a while. Too lazy to make my own sauces, but I intend to learn to make my own. I think it's worth it. As you see I work closely with chicken most times, it's F's favourite meat. Plus, chicken is so easy to cook!

:: Chicken & Mushroom Fusilli Recipe ::
Serves 2

2 portion cooked fusilli (cook according to package instruction)
1/2 bottle Dolmio's Mushroom & Herb pasta sauce (or your favourite sauce)
1/3 cup diced red pepper
1/3 cup diced celery
1/3 cup diced fresh button mushroom
1/2 green onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup diced chicken breast meat
salt & pepper to taste
a pinch of Italian herbs for extra taste
1. Heat 3 tablespoonfuls of extra virgin olive oil in a pot, fry the onions & garlic until aromatic. Throw in diced chicken, fry until half cooked.
2. Throw in the vegetables and fry until soften, about 3-4 minutes.
3. Add in the creamy pasta sauce and combine.
4. Add Italian herbs, salt & pepper to taste and let cook, stirring occasionally for about 2-3 minutes.
5. Turn heat off, and pour over cooked fusilli. Garnish with fresh parsley (I didn't had any!) and sprinkle some grated cheese for a delicious dinner!

Note: Adding lots of fresh veges such as capsicum, celery, and mushrooms really add those healthy touch and taste to the pasta sauce. Not to mention colourful too!

Honey Soy Chicken

Honestly, I can not begin to tell how many types of fried chicken there are around this world. Honey & Soy is one of the world's favourite marinade, no? Hmm, I agree to that. This was the first dish I cooked after I got married & moved in with F ;-P

F loves chicken and so I thought it would be nice for us to share a nice chicken dish for lunch. As both of us are pretty tired... and hungry - I quickly marinated the chicken pieces and cooked some rice too.

I thought it wouldn't taste good as it was just a try... but it turned out to be nice and here I am, sharing it with you here!
:: Honey & Soy Fried Chicken ::
4 piece chicken thighs, halved (any part will do, really)
2 tablespoon honey
4 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon tomato sauce
a dash of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
a dash of black pepper
1 teaspoon grated ginger (optional)

1. Clean the chicken pieces and pat dry. Mix all the sauces with chicken and set aside for at least 15 minutes.
2. Heat a large frying pan with about 1 cup of cooking oil. Ensure oil is heated enough for frying.
3. Place chicken pieces one by one in the pan and cook each side until colour is darkened, about 5 minutes each side.
4. Repeat with remaining pieces and serve with your favourite sauce :-) You can also eat this with rice :-) just like chicken rice!

Simple Chinese Fried Rice with Beef & Celery

:-) I miss my food blog! :-) And I am back from a long break. It feels great to be back, blogging about what I love most - food.

As I newly set up my kitchen from scratch (just moved in a rented apt with my husband after we got married), I am at lost of what to cook... I wanted to start "warming up" - cooking simple stuffs good enough for the two of us, before I start storming out food that requires more ingredients. Kitchen's really small, so I must make do with the little working space I have! But it's so far so good.

Fried rice is NOT to be eaten daily.. No no. No good - all the oil and frying... brings up those cholesterol. Anyways, it's nice to have it once a while, especially when you want a quick meal.

While buying some groceries, I bought some fried rice seasonings to try. Maggi black pepper and chinese fried rice. Both taste good, simple enough for dinner and hubby loved it. The black pepper fried rice was really nice, however I did not take a photo of it last nice :-( as I was too tired to grab the camera...

:: Chinese fried rice with minced beef & celery ::
2 cups cooked jasmine rice
1 packet Maggi Chinese fried rice seasoning (in powder)
4 baby carrots, cubed
1 celery stick, chopped
1/3 green capsicum (green pepper), chopped
about 1/3 cup minced beef
1 egg
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/4 green onion, chopped
1 red chili, sliced
cooking oil for frying

1. Heat a wok with cooking oil, about 3 tablespoonful of oil.
2. Throw in onion & garlic, fry until aromatic and throw in minced meat. Stir until meat is browned then add in the vegetables. Stir fry about a minute.
3. Add rice and combine. Add the fried rice seasoning and combine thoroughly before making a "hole" in the middle of the wok.
4. In the middle of the wok, crack open an egg and stir egg until half cooked.
5. Cover the egg with rice and stir to combine. Turn heat off and transfer the quick, simply delicious Chinese fried rice to plates.
6. Best eaten when hot!

Bitter but Healthy: Stir Fried Bitter Gourd

Do you eat food for its taste, health, or you don't really care? Hmm, I now wonder myself. I love food, delicious ones. Bitter gourd was not one of my favourite, I couldn't stand the bitterness. Mum cooks it sometimes... and make fresh bitter gourd juice for my dad occassionally. I learned to like it a little. Not those very, very bitter ones tho :-P

Being a popular health choice for many, so it has grown to have a unique popularity in home menus, be it for fun or health. It is known to reduce high blood pressure, body heat, high sugar level and more, check out Juice For Health to read a little bit more on various health conditions that bitter melon may help improve.

My favourite way of eating this is deep fried - an Indian recipe where the melon is thinly sliced, mixed in a spiced flour and deep fried till crispy. It is so delicious... though the deep frying and oil is rather unhealthy if consumed too much.

My mum would stir fry with some meat or with egg, which makes it a healthier way to eat. I found a similar recipe online to the one mum usually cooks at Kuali online, check it out here. Below is the recipe from Kuali too, with only difference in my mum's recipe is, she does not use sesame oil and add thickening. Besides beef, she loves to use chicken or prawns too.

Ingredients
1 medium-sized bittergourd
200g beef tenderloin fillet
A little soy sauce
½ tsp cornflour
1 tsp chopped garlic
3 tbsp oil
A little sesame oil
½ cup water

(A) Sauce ingredients:
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
½ tsp sugar
Pinch of pepper

Thickening (combine):
¾ tsp corn flour
1½ tbsp water

Method
Cut bittergourd lengthwise and remove the seeds. Slice thinly. Rub with a little salt till limp and wash. Season beef with a little soy sauce and add in the cornflour.

Heat 1½ tbsp oil in a wok and fry garlic until lightly golden and fragrant. Put in bittergourd and fry till soft. Add water and cover. Allow to cook at a simmering boil for two to three minutes. Remove and set aside.

Heat remaining oil and sesame oil. Put in marinated beef and (A). Fry till just cooked. Return the bittergourd to the wok and stir-fry briskly to combine. Add thickening and dish out. Serve immediately.
(Taken from Kuali)

Sounds very simple and yet very healthy. We love to eat it on its own, or with rice :-)