Vietnamese Tiger Prawns

Photo above was taken by good friend of mine, Béa. If you are into photography, check out her breathtaking images on her flikr.

I found this beautiful prawn at the Chinese market, I was pretty much mesmerized by their beautiful blue claws. I bought just a few (my husband doesn't really eat shell fish, other then crab) and thought of making something simple and uncomplicated. Voilà, I turned this beautiful blue claw creatures into crispy, orangey, delicious Luke's Tiger Prawn. I am sure you heard of Luke Nguyen right? I really like his show. He is cool, unpretentious, and so down to earth. So,  if you happen to have Tiger Prawn right now, do try this recipe. It's Delicious !

Chicken Marbella

For those of you who live in The States, you might be already familiar with this famous and delicious chicken dish created by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins. For those who doesn't, this  recipe is  a perfect recipe to entertain  a large crowd, it can be serve straight from the oven or at room temperature. And, it is really delicious !

Chicken Marbella
adapted from The Silver Palate Cookbook
serve 10 or more

4 chickens, 2½ pounds each, quartered (I used Cornish hens)
1 head garlic, peeled and finely pureed
1/4 cup dried oregano
1/2 red wine vinegar (Thank you Naomi for your correction)
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup pitted prunes
1/2 cup pitted green Spanish olives
1/2 cup capers
6 bay leaves
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white wine
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

In a large bowl, combine chicken pieces, garlic, oregano, red wine vinegar, olive oil, prunes, olives, capers, and bay leave. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let the chicken marinate overnight in a refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Arrange the chicken in a single layer in a shallow baking pan, pour the marinade over it. Sprinkle the chicken with brown sugar, and pour white wine around them.

Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, basting frequently with the pan juices.  Serve hot or room temperature.

Epok Epok, Malaysian Style Curry Puff

The disadvantage of frying any treat is that you left with so many cooking oil that if you don't use it it become a waste. I don't particularly want to waste my leftover oil that I used couple days ago to fry my Sufganiyot, so I made another fried snack. This time, I used the opportunity to make Epok - Epok or Malaysian Style Curry Puff. I actually bookmarked the recipe for quite sometimes, but never had the time to really put it into realization. I must say that I really like this snack, it reminds me of Indonesian snack called,  Pastel Goreng. Unlike Epok Epok, Pastel Goreng is much simpler to make, doesn't require rolling and folding the dough.  The filling is also differ, the most common is the combination of chicken, carrots, and mung bean noodle. So today, I marry them together, the pastry is Malaysian and filling is Indonesian. Hope you like it :)

If you like the potato filling, go straight to Samantha's blog. But, if you want to try my filling, you are welcome too. Use the measurement as a guidelines, and any leftover filling delicious  eaten with steam plain rice.

Epok - Epok, Malaysian Style Curry Puff
Recipe from Samantha Tan's

1 recipe for Epok Epok Pastry

1 recipe for filling, recipe follows

enough vegetable oil to fry the pastry (I used canolla oil)

Follow the  recipe on how to make the pastry as directed here.

For The Filling 

2 cups minced skinless chicken thigh

1/4 cup chopped shallots

1 tsp minced garlic

1 cup diced carrots

freshly grated nutmeg, to taste

1/4 tsp ground white pepper

salt, to taste

2 cups mung bean spouts

1/2 cup chopped scallions

1 - 2 tbs vegetable oil

1/2 tbs cornstarch mix with 2 tbs water

Fry shallots with 1 or 2 tbs oil over medium heat until translucent . Add minced chicken and garlic to the pan, break up any lumps with fork. Cook for 5 minutes, add carrots, season with nutmeg, white pepper, and salt. Cook for further 10 minutes, or until chicken is cooked thoroughly. Add mung bean sprouts, scallions, stir for 1 minute. Add cornstarch about a minute before finish. Cool completely.

When the filling is cooled, follow the direction to assemble the pastry here. Fry until golden brown.

Ma'aloubeh. Rice Layered With Chicken and Vegetables

This surely is not the best good looking Ma'aloubeh you've seen, but I can assure you that this Arabic rice dish tastes really good. It is one pot meal that has everything from vegetables to meat in it. For more festive celebration, I like to use lamb, but for everyday meal, I am just happy with chicken, and sometimes, I go completely vegetarian by using whatever vegetables I have in hand. 

Note : as you can see from the picture above, mine was falling apart when I inverted, and the onions were sticking to the pot, so I had to re-arrange it. Put aside the appearance, it was really delicious !

Ma'aloubeh

Recipe adapted from : Sherry Ansky, The Food Of Israel

3 (720 g) cup rice

2 tsp salt

4 lb (2 kg) boneless - skinless chicken legs

4 tbs vegetable oil, or more as needed

6 cup boiling water

1 tsp crushed saffron

1/4 tsp ground cardamom

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground all spice

1/4 tsp ground ginger

3 carrots, cut into large chunks

1 large onion, thickly sliced

3 Japanese eggplant, cut lengthwise

1 tbs butter

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Soak rice in water for an hour, rinse, and drain. Add salt - stir. 

Heat 2 tablespoon oil oil in a heavy pot, add chicken legs and brown on all side. Add 6 cups of  boiling water, saffron, cardamom, cinnamon, all spice, and ginger. Season with a little bit of salt and pepper. Cook for 20 minutes. Remove the chicken legs , but retain the cooking water. 

In a skillet, add the remaining 2 tablespoon vegetable oil, working in a batch, fry the onion slices and the eggplants  until brown on all side, add more oil to the skillet if necessary. Set aside.

Grease a heavy pot (make sure the pot has a lid) with butter. Arrange the onion on the bottom of the pot, follow by carrots, chicken legs and eggplants. Season with more salt and pepper. Spread the rice in an even layer, then pour over the cooking water that you save earlier. Cover the pot with a its lid, cook on high until the rice has absorbed the water, about 5 to 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, continue to cook (with the lid still on) for another 10 to 15 minutes.

To serve, place a large plate over the top of the pot, and invert quickly - serve.

Baked Chicken With Onion, Honey, and Paprika

This recipe was given to me  by a friend of mine who invited us for dinner at her house one day. It's one those effortless dish, and easily pleased the very young and adult alike. I guess the sweetness and smoky flavor from the paprika are the magic ingredients in this recipe.  I altered the recipe just a little bit since I am not quite fond of the raw onion taste. That just a personal preference, if you want to go the easy way, skip the process of frying the onion, just put everything in a baking dish and bake. And, you are done !

Baked Chicken With Onion, Honey, and Paprika

Recipe courtesy : Barchi G

8 chicken drumstick, boneless and skinless

2 large onion, sliced

6 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tbs soup powder (I couldn't find it, so I didn't use any)

2 tbs sweet paprika (I used Smoked pimenton)

1 tsp hot paprika

3 tbs honey

1/2 cup white wine
2 tbs olive oil, or canola oil

salt and pepper, to taste

In a large bowl, add garlic, sweet paprika, hot paprika, honey and white wine, mix well. Add chicken drumsticks, cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat, add olive oil, or canola oil, add sliced onion, and fry until the onion is translucent, and the smell of the raw onion is completely gone. Set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 350⁰F.

Transfer the drumsticks and the marinate including the juice to a baking dish. Scatter the fried onion on top. Bake for 1 hour. If you find the onion brown too quickly, cover loosely with aluminum foil. Serve with simple rice or bread.