Monday, December 31, 2018

Last day of 2018

.... another blood test. And my DNA getting analyzed this time.

the lack of oxygen in my blood made it appear really black.

Sunday, December 30, 2018

Sole Meuniére with Cream and Échalote Sauce Meuniére

For weeks we have been craving sole meuniére after seeing Saiful post about it during his London trip.

And a few days ago, I found a good sized sole during one of my early morning market runs. The fish was very fresh and was a good size too, weighing about 1.2kg.
As it was my first time ever cleaning and preparing a sole, it took a bit reading and Googling to learn the techniques. Armed with my new Kai chef knife, an hour later we had two good sized fillets skinned and a bonus of some fish roe (plus a Faten covered in fishscales and smelling like fish that Latte keep biting on my fingers)
I decided to make my first sole meuniere a bit more decadent and flavorful, by not cooking it with just butter the classic way (what's more decadent than cooking in loads of butter?!), adding finely chopped shallot and finishing it with cream.


As the fillets were quite big, the dish was enough to feed four (and two cats) generously.
So here's my very own 'Sole meuniére with a cream and échalote sauce' made from scratch, a side of blanched baby spinach.

Wednesday, December 26, 2018

Biryani for Adju

When one of your partner-in-crime and her family of athletes turn up at your door with only a few hours notice, it's Biryani time!


 

Saturday, December 22, 2018

Nasi Kerabu Kelantan

This weekend we treated the family to an 'almost' complete Nasi Kerabu Kelantan feast.
Nasi Kerabu Kelantan
Made everything from scratch, just like how it's done during my classes.
From 'tumis' to 'serunding ikan', along with 'air lada' and fine julienne of no less than ten different herbs and vegetables.
serunding ikan & kelapa

Finely sliced herbs and vegetables
The rice is cooked with liquid from butterfly-pea flower 'Clitoria ternatea' steeped in hot water. This gives the rice the distinctive vivid blue color that the dish is famous for.

Budu, shallots & bird's eye chili
Of course we had 'budu' too, what is 'nasi kerabu' without a generous spoonful of it for the lovely umami taste!
To make it extra special, I also made my mom's favorite 'solok lada' and 'begedil ikan'.

Stuffed solok lada before they are steamed

Solok lada and bergedil ikan made from scratch!
We also had 'ayam bakar', 'ikan celup tepung' and 'keropok ikan' to complete this East Coast favorite staple dish.
Feast time!
Though it's such a joy seeing everyone (especially Zz) enjoying it, I think it's going to be quite sometime before I have a go at this again, it just takes too much time and energy with the many elements to be made.

Tuesday, December 18, 2018

UPKK result

Congratulations Hussen!

His first major exam and he got straight As, all 8 of them! All the hard work, cramming days and nights has been proven to work.

Keep smiling, keep shining.
We are so proud of you!


Friday, November 30, 2018

Spicy Mediterranean Sheet Pan Chicken

With just a handful of fresh ingredients, Hot Chick Spicy Salt and one pan, this quick and easy, yet delicious recipe comes together in under an hour. 

No marination required.

SPICY MEDITERRANEAN SHEET PAN CHICKEN
• 1 chicken, quartered
• 2 tbsp Hot Chick Spicy Salt, crushed
• 1 lemon, thinly sliced
• 6 onion, quartered
• 12 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup of olive oil
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a large sheet pan with parchment, if desired.
2. Break up the layers of the onion. Place onion, lemon slices and garlic on sheet pan.

3. Place chicken on top of the vegetables, season chicken with Hot Chick Spicy Salt and olive oil, massage well.
4. Bake for 45 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.
5. Drizzle chicken with pan juice and top with the caramelized onion and lemon before serving.

Sunday, November 18, 2018

partnerincrime #272

Missing the other one of our trio, our superwoman, as the two of us sit and complain of aching bones and presbyopia over coffee and banoffee pie.

Sunday, July 22, 2018

closertohomethanwethought

Teachers and those who are in relationship of trust who sexually abuse deserve to lose everything, job, freedom, future and everything in between.  No mercy for them. They must pay for their crime against innocent children. For the bleak future they have forced upon their victims.

They never showed any mercy on their victims did they? The children who are their students, the one that they are supposed to teach and protect, the one that they are supposed to guide spiritually. The one too scared to say no, the one made to think that what being done to them is natural and not wrong. The one made to believe that if they were to speak out no one will believe and will be accused of lying instead.

Imagine the emotional and physical damage they've inflicted. The trauma may lead the victim to mete out the same abuse on others, and this vicious cycle will continue, sadly some may even succumb to taking their life.

Of late, more of these abuses coming to light are by those in religious profession. These bastards use their 'religious position' to convince their young and innocent victims that what they are doing is not wrong. And this is just as bad as those who use mental and physical threat and abuse, if not worse.

And damn the schools and the authorities at Education Department that try to cover these sexual abuses just so they can keep on pretending that everything is fine and picture perfect, then merely transferring the perpetrators to a new playground, with fresh 'meats' to feast on.

We need new law for the highest punishment for these heinous offence, no more of the school and PPD protecting these criminals and putting them first instead of the innocent children. 

Now more than ever, sexual offender registry must be implemented, pedophiles must be kept away from children let alone be in a profession where they come into contact with children.

We must stop enabling these pedophiles. Yes, you and me, we are responsible too if we chose to keep quite.

#sexualpredatorisamongus #pedophile #closertohomethanwethought

#sexualpredatorisamongus

Sexual predators who prey on children belongs in the deepest hell for eternity.

Along with people who enables them, especially people who try to cover up the truth for whatever sick reason, people who let these monsters get away with merely a smack on their hand and families of victims who refuses to take action.

But there's another type that deserves far worse, those who are in relationship of trust with the victim (ie. family members or people of authority like teachers and community leaders) and those who uses religious persona to mask their repulsive and deviant addiction. 

#sexualpredatorisamongus

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Princess Socks in pissed! As well as Abang Q...



"You wanna explain why you let me sneak into the room and hide under the bed so you can't see me when you leave the room?"

*backstory, read Q's first ever WhatsApp message to me.



Friday, February 09, 2018

Goodbye is never easy

I was the little girl that you spoiled to bits, and you are the first man I had wrapped around my little fingers.

My first scrambler bike ride.
My first banana split, at the best ice-cream joint in town, which happened to be a pub off Beach Street.
My first kebab burger from that place on Esplanade.

They were all with you.


And you bought me my first 36 colors Colleen color pencil in the prettiest tin with Takahashi Makoto's shoujo girl on it, that was the envy of all my classmates.

All that before I turned seven.

Then you moved on with your life, getting married and having a family of your own. And I grew up.

Once in a while we'll bump into each other, but we never got close again, until a couple of years back when we started going to your printing press again. Learning much about you and the life you led, bantering and arguing, and at times switching roles of being the adult while we chat.

Today, I went to your bedside in the ICU to bid my final goodbye. And I stayed to watch over you as your breath gets shallower, as the number for your pulse on the monitor gets smaller and smaller, and finally watching life leaving your body as the sun begins slip into twilight on this Friday evening.

Good bye Abang Taufik, thanks for the memories, and thank you for teaching me a few things about life.

Innalillahiwainnalillahirajioun.

~Taufik Sheikh Sulaiman Rafie~
1958-2018