Weekend project: A cooking come back? : Fish 2-ways with roasted tomato sauce

Well..well well..its been a while huh..guess what?. I’m back..well..kinda. 🙂 This time, decided to cook something simple, just fish (with roasted tomatoes, garlic, thyme serve with asparagus). Went to Tmn Tun market this morning was searching for a “red-color” fish. Why red? hmmm..just like the color of the fish before it’s cook. But after masak the color will change la..hmm.. Anyway, had this presentation idea of this dish long time ago but didn’t manage to get my hands on starting it. Today, the first sunday that i’m not working, FINALLY!..i get to start something…

Deboning the fish just like the above, was a challenge. Cause, 1) long time never cut anything with a knife for so loonngggg…LOL and 2) this fish has lots of bones too..but lesser than Tilapia though..(btw, do i don’t quite know the name of this fish in malay but in chinese it’s called “Hung-Jou” fish)

So, my idea of the presentation was to roll the fillet, the part that’s with the tail still intact serve with a sauce. Sauce is just simply roast tomatoes with garlic, thyme and season with salt and pepper. Easy rite? I got this idea (the tail standing) from this magazine while i was outside the board-room during my toilet break..lol. And the trick is this, i used a bamboo skewer to hold the tail part as i rolled the fillet. How i cook it? Instead of deep frying it, i shallow pan fried it. Remember that the skewers still in tact on the fillet? I used the skewer to turn the fillet (2mins on each side). Clever huh?

The remaining fillet, i was thinking to do the same as well, but then again, i just steamed it with its head. All i use to marinate was just some ginger juice, some salt and sesame oil. Simple, basic seasoning and marinade. Well, that’s all i can say now, simple. I guess this is how it’s going to be from now on, simple and yet presentable. Picture paints a thousand words. Till i cook again, eat well.

Grilled Eggplant roll with minced chicken

Eggplant or aubergine or brinjal ..no matter how you like to called it..to me its the same..haha..its one of my fav ingredients to use. I saw this recipe from a magazine that my sis got it for free, and its in chinese (and yes, i don’t read chinese though i’m one..hehe..sorry ba..i was from a malay school ba..hehe ). Anyway, the original recipe was to use cream cheese and some herbs. As you already know by now that i always try to mimic the preparation but make my own presentation. Clever kan?hehe.. 🙂 And in this case, i substitute the cream cheese with minced chicken. I tell you, punya panjang itu process. I think kan, by the time you finish reading this, i don’t think  you’ll even want to try making this dish.. heh 😛

So here it goes, ready? hehe..to start, i marinade the chicken with my favourite marinade, which consist of ginger, garlic, oyster sauce, sesame oil and some olive oil. In addition to that, i spread some butter underneath the skin of the drumstick and i use some dry herbs too, thyme. A lot kan?haha..you wait la, belum lagi i sapu some honey after 10mins of roasting..hehe..this is to give the golden crust on the skin of the chicken (though it doesn’t really matter since i’m going to minced it anyway kan..but it does add some sweetness to the chicken).

Right, after roasting the chicken for about 25mins at 200ºc and let it rest for about 10mins or so, then i start de-boning the drumstick (yes, i do know how to debone a chicken, well for this case, its just a drumstick ba 🙂 not that hard anyway) I used pestle and mortar to minced the chicken meat instead of a blender to create that rustic look when i spread it on the grilled eggplant (ha!, i still haven’t explain how i prepare the eggplant..aiyo, banyak kerja kan?hehe..wait la.). Anyway, nothing were added to the minced chicken except the fats and flavors from the chicken when i roast it. Fantastic sauce i tell u, rich in flavors. :p

Well, the eggplant. Actually, its kinda simple. Cut it length ways. Not to thin though cause when you cook it kan, it’ll shrink ba. So, with one eggplant, you can only get a good 3-4 slices only ba. Before you start grilling in, sapu some olive oil on it and season it with some salt and pepper lo. To get the grill marks kan, i used my ikea grill pan, lama sudah didnt use. Lucky still usable.hehe.. 🙂 After grilling it, again, let it rest before spreading the minced chicken on it. The rolling part, i must say its the easiest ba, you’ll enjoy it so much that you wish you got lots to roll. LOL!. Anyway, to add some color to this dish, i serve with some chopped tomatoes yang ah muah bagi me, erm..few days back..ehhe.. still edible 🙂 Enjoy!

Breakfast less than Rm5 – Hmm..or slightly more

Easy Breaky meal..

Well, just like the title …breakfast less than Rm5…or is it slightly more..hmmm..well..actually its slightly more la..just that i spend less on buying the ingredients n the rest of the ingredients are either leftovers or its in the fridge..hmm..so not included la..hehe

I didn’t know what to cook for bfast today..hmm..kinda bored with my usual indo-mee with double sunny side up eggs..hehe..so decided to cook lo.. this dish..that i cooked today…i actually learn or shall i say copy from my si fu..(ah Jamie Oliver)..hehe..u know la..i started cooking also bcz of him ba…i mean he make it so easy..n fun…          

My breakfast

What he did was..he uses button mushrom, tomatoes (which is what i used also kan), chorizo (hmm..not sure i got the right spelling) ermm..oh yeah..bacon and eggs ..n he did it as a supper dish..kinda cool actually when he cook it..

So what i did was..well to me..doesn’t matter its a supper or dinner la..its still a meal to me..especially for breakfast kan..n especially after BodyPump class today (By the way..class this morning was not that great..mic was giving problem..anyway..its over..don’t want to talk abt it..sigh)..so yeah..

Instead of using chorizo, i used luncheon meat (yes..porky..hehe..ah muah sorry)..tomato