in my studio | category

Apr
17
2014

creamy garlic butter prawns

When you have 3 small kids, making dinner can be quite tough when you have 1 clingy baby, 1 throwing tantrum toddler and 1 demanding little girl. Some days, I just want to get dinner over and done with, so this is a perfect meal to make in just under 15 minutes. Although it looks simple, its packed full of flavour! If I find I have a bit extra time, I’ll make some steam veges on the side, or whip up a quick soup to go with it.

RECIPE FOR CREAMY GARLIC BUTTER PRAWNS

Servings: 2
Cook time: 10-15mins

Ingredients
2-3 clove garlic, crushed
1 – 2 tbsp butter
20 prawns, deveined (about 200g)
1 cup thickened cream (or less)
1 tbsp cornflour
2 tsp stock paste (if you’re using a liquid stock, you might need more cornflour to thicken it up)
Salt & pepper to taste

Method
1. Saute butter and garlic for a few minutes then add the cream and stock, cover and bring to a boil.
2. In a small bowl, mix 1 tbsp cornflour with 1 tbsp water then gradually add it to the cream mixture.
3. Add prawns in a single layer and cook for a minute on each side. Stir until sauce thickens.
3. Finally, serve hot with some white rice*

*Making rice will also take approx 15 minutes, so make the rice first before making your creamy garlic butter prawns. Your rice will be ready just in time when you finish cooking the prawns :)

No comments
Category: halal, in my kitchen, seafood

Sep
11
2013

middle eastern rice + fish

I’m married to a Lebanese, but I’m embarrassed to say that I don’t really cook Lebanese food. Maybe because its not spicy enough for me? Though, this would have to be my favourite Lebanese dish. I tried it once at tayta’s (grandmother) and I absolutely loved it. I love fish, so this goes down really well. The Lebanese eat it with yogurt, but being the malay that I am, I have it with sambal! I think you can use any fish you want really, I made this with spanish mackerel and trevally, and both are nice.

RECIPE FOR LEBANESE SAYADIEH (FISH & RICE)
Adapted from Tayta and my Mother-in-Law
Serves: 4
Cook time: 45 minutes

Ingredients for sayadieh

2.5 cups uncooked long grain rice (I use basmati)
500g fish
2 tsp cummin powder
1 medium onion (diced)
2 tbsp pine nuts
Salt to taste
Yogurt (to serve)

Method for Sayadieh

1. Marinate fish with a bit of salt and turmeric and deep fry. Then de-bone and tear into into small pieces-set aside.
2. In a medium pot, saute onions in some of the leftover oil from the fish. Saute until onions are crispy and brown then add cummin powder.
3. Meanwhile, wash the rice and then add it into the pot along with the fish pieces. Cook for about 45minutes until rice is done.
4. In a small saucepan, lightly fry the pine nuts in a bit of oil until golden brown and set aside.
5. Once the rice is cooked, topped with pine nuts and serve with yogurt.

2 lovely comments
Category: fish, halal, in my kitchen, rice, seafood

Nov
19
2011

curry laksa version 2

curry laksa

Yet another laksa post from me because I am a fanatic laksa fan. Here is the original post, I posted a few months ago when I first learnt how to make it from scratch-no bottle paste anymore yee-ha! This time, I made a few extra changes.

If you love cooking malaysian food, you most probably have all these ingredients sitting at home in your pantry/fridge. All you have to do is get the fresh stuff like boy choy, bean sprouts etc. The only downside is probably having to toast the belacan (shrimp) which is super smelly-makes-you-want-to-gag, but because I’m all-things-malaysian, I absolutely love the smell! Though, hubby’s orders: please toast them outside. And yes, please do. You do not want your house smelling like off shrimps ;)

RECIPE FOR MALAYSIAN CHICKEN CURRY LAKSA
Adapted from Almost Bourdain, with slight modifications

Serves: 6
Prep time: 30 mins
Cook time: 50 mins

Ingredients

For the paste:
20 Asian shallots
10 cloves garlic
10 dried chillies, soaked in warm water for 30mins
3 tsp toasted belacan
3 tbsp dried shrimps, soaked in warm water for 5 mins
6 candlenuts (buah keras)

Other ingredients:
3 tbsp curry powder (I used Baba’s Meat)
1 kg egg noodles (hokkien noodles), blanched
24 shelled prawns, deveined
2 chicken breast, cooked and sliced
2 big bunch of choy sum, cut
3 stalks lemon grass, bruised
2 sprig curry leaves
3 cups chicken stock
3/4 can coconut milk
200 g tofu puffs, halved
300 g bean sprouts, blanched and tail removed
3 hard boiled eggs, halved
1 packet fried fish cakes, sliced thinly
5 tbsp oil
salt to taste
Fried shallots, for garnishing
Spring onions, for garnishing

Method

1. To make the paste: Mix ingredients and pound into a paste using a blender.

2. Heat up oil in a medium sized pot, and stir the prawns for 5 mins until cooked evenly. Remove prawns and set aside.

3. Saute the blended paste, lemon grass, curry powder and curry leaves until the oil separates and is fragrant. This should take about 7 – 10 mins.

3. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil.

4. Reduce heat and leave to simmer for about 20 minutes.

5. Add the coconut cream/milk and bring to a boil again, stirring constantly to prevent it from curdling.

6. Turn of the stove and add tofu puffs, fish cake, choy sum and some salt to taste then give it a final stir to coat all the ingredients.

To serve: Divide noodles into individual bowls. Pour the hot curry laksa evenly ontop of the noodles into each bowl and then spread the prawns, chicken, eggs and the garnishes. Serve immediately.

Click ‘Read More’ below to print out the recipe and leave a comment.

3 lovely comments
Category: asian, chicken, halal, in my kitchen, noodles, seafood

Nov
15
2011

thai inspired pattaya (omelette) fried rice | nasi goreng pattaya

Nasi goreng pattaya, or simply nasi pattaya, is a Malaysian dish made by covering or wrapping fried rice, in fried egg (omelette). It is often served with chili sauce, cucumber, and/or keropok. The name comes from Pattaya, Thailand.

Source: Wikipedia

In Malaysia, nasi pattaya is just chicken fried rice wrapped in omelette. The flavours are basically the same as you would find in any nasi goreng. This dish was inspired by Secret Recipe (again! My last pasta dish was also inspired by SR) when they extended their menu and included a Thai Inspired Pattaya Fried Rice, it was so irrisistably good! This is a thumbs up from the hubby!

And because I am so in love with chilli, I made my own special batch (aside from my daughter and husband’s) for me to indulge in. If you love spicy food, it taste even better when its hot. You’ll be wiping your nose every second but its all worth it! Can you spot out those little nasty buggers in there? Don’t bite it of you can’t handle it. Hubby accidentally did and in his words ‘ I felt like a knife was slicing through my throat’. Oops!

RECIPE FOR THAI INSPIRED PATTAYA FRIED RICE/NASI GORENG PATTAYA
Inspired by Secret Recipe

Serves: 4
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 25 mins

Ingredients

3 cups cooked basmati rice (you can also use leftover rice)
16 prawns, shelled and deveined
1 chicken breast, cut into small bite size chunks
1 bulb garlic, sliced
Handful of basil leaves
1 chilli, cut
1 large carrot, diced
1 cup baby peas
1 large red capsicum
4 eggs, beaten (to make omelette)
1 tbsp dark soy sauce (for rice colouring)
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp basil infused olive oil (optional)
1 tsp chilli oil (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Heat oil in a wok and fry chicken pieces and prawns until cook. Remove and set aside.

2. Using the same oil, sautee the garlic until slightly brown then add the vegetables and chilli.

3. Add in the rice, dark soy sauce and basil infused olive oil and stir till evenly coated.

4. Season well with salt and pepper.

5. In a large pan, heat up a little oil and add the beaten egg (1 egg for 1 pan, covering the entire pan). Flip once and remove onto a plate. Do this for the remaining 3 eggs to make 4 serves of omelette.

6. Dish the rice from the wok into the middle of the omelette and cover the rice completely with egg. Drizzle with chilli oil and serve immediately.

2 lovely comments
Category: asian, chicken, halal, in my kitchen, rice, seafood

Nov
10
2011

creamy spaghetti napolitana with prawns

When I’m in a rush, I think of pasta. Spaghetti to be precise. This one here, can be whipped up in a jiffy. All you need are a handful of fresh ingredients (well, not the pasta unless you want to make it yourself :p) and you’ve got a quick meal for a midweek dinner that the family will love. I know my husband would! Here is the recipe for this wonderfully quick pasta dish.

RECIPE FOR CREAMY SPAGHETTI NAPOLITANA WITH PRAWNS

Serves: 4
Prep time: 15mins
Cook time: 20-30mins

Ingredients

400g spaghetti & some water to boil
16 medium sized prawns
300ml thickened cream
1 cup chicken stock
4 tbsp tomato paste
1 small-medium sized onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, finely diced
1 large carrot, sliced
1 large red capsicum, sliced
1 large green capsicum, sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp mixed herbs
1 tsp basil, to garnish
salt and pepper, to taste

Method

1. Bring water to a boil then put spaghetti in with a bit of salt.

2. While pasta is boiling, heat up oil in a saucepan and sautee onions and garlic.

3. Add the prawns and vegetables and cook for a few more minutes before adding tomato paste.

4. Then add the thickened cream and stock, and bring to a boil.

5. Simmer on a low heat and season well with salt, pepper and mixed herbs.

6. Once pasta is cooked, drain well and mix it with the creamy napolitana sauce.

7. Serve onto individual plates and sprinkle with some basil.