Chicken and Lime Noodle Salad

Another Asian inspired dish. Although I didn't make this recipe up, this was the first time trying this recipe and it turned out to be a lovely light summer salad. Here's the recipe for it.

250g bean-thread noodles,
1 medium carrot
1 small cucumber or zucchini
2 green onion, sliced thinly
1 small red pepper
4 cups shredded chicken
1/2 cup mint leaves
1/2 cup cilantro/corriander leaves
3 red thai chillies, seeded and thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic crushed
1/3 cup lime juice
1/3 cup peanut oil/veg oil
2 tbsp fish sauce (essential)
1 tbsp sugar

1. Place noodles in a heat proof dish and cover with boiling water. Stand until tender, drain.
2. Using vegetable peeler, slice carrots, cucumber and red pepper into ribbons.
3. Combine noodles, carrots, cucumber, onion, red pepper, chicken, mint and cilantro. Toss till well combined.
4. Mix sauces, lime juice, chilli, sugar, garlic and sugar together till well blended. Then pour over the noodles and veggies and toss well. For a more refreshing salad, refridgerate noodles before combining with remaining ingredients.

Rosae Alfredo Pasta

When Living Sword and Chocolate Girl came over for a visit, I made this with what I had in my refridgerator and freezer. I had some of that marinated BBQ chicken from Costco in the freezer, fresh asparagus and parmesan cheese in my refridgerator, red onion and vine ripened tomatoes sitting on my kitchen counter. All I needed was some heavy cream. Since I knew we were going to Zerelli's, I also knew that I could get the cream there.

I used large tubed pasta for this dish but any shaped pasta would work too. I cooked it as usual in salted water for the stated time but just a minute before it is ready, I added cut asparagus to the cooking pasta. Once cooked, I drained both pasta and asparagus and returned it to the pot. While still hot, with the stove on medium heat, I added shreaded grilled chicken, freshly chopped tomatoes and thinly sliced tomatoes. Gave it a good toss and then added heavy cream and parmesan cheese to give it a lovely creamy sauce. Season to taste with a little salt and serve. It was good with some freshly ground pepper. I actually wanted to top it off with some fresh basil but I forgot. I think that would have give it that added flavour to the dish. Only thing messy with this is having to cook the chicken first and shreaded it before making the pasta. I call this a rosae because of the mixing of tomatoes and cream.

Simple cooking for Robyn's Family

Some people might find it strange but I really enjoy cooking for families. In this case, my girlfriend, Robyn had gone with me to Eat-Vancouver earlier this year and when she purchased a bunch of Asian sauces and condiments, I told her that I would teach her how to use some of them. This was what I did this past week. Unfortunately, the day we chose to do this happened to be one of the hottest record breaking day of this summer, 37C. With no air conditioning and no breeze, we found it very hard to keep cool let alone cook, but we did manage. Mercifully, as the evening progressed, the temperatures started to drop a little. Not something I would like to do again. I mean cooking in such hot weather!

So I made 2 dishes. The first is just a simple mixed veg stirfry with prawns because Robyn wanted to learn how to make this. Next I made a simple fried noodles with chicken and bak choy. Both of these dishes were seasoned with oyster sauce, soya sauce and a dash of sesamee oil. The mixed veg recieved a little bit of Chinese cooking wine at the end of cooking while the noodles had some dark soya sauce and cilantro for garnishing. I think it was a hit but you never know it they were just being polite!

In exchange for cooking, I recieved 3 portions of bison meat. I'm already thinking of using it to make lettuce wraps! Not sure yet. I'll keep thinking.

Green Papaya Restaurant in White Rock

Green Papaya is one of my favourite restaurants down in White Rock. Located on Marine Drive facing the majestic Semiahmoo Bay, the Green Papaya Restaurant offers a unique combination of Vietnamese and West Coast cuisine. It is situated just at the top of the hill and you can get one of the best views of the beach and water from there.
Reno Man and I went there for dinner and as usual, it was very good. On the left is Tropicale Halibut and the one on the right is Macadamia Seabass. We both enjoyed our dinner very much. It was light and very healthy. We also ordered a mango lime smoothie that was just right to cool us down from the heat of the day. Oh I forgot that we also had these chilli chicken skewers. They weren't quite what I expected. I would have liked a little more sauce and chilli spice to it.

On past occassions, we have ordered their specials and have never been dissapointed. I have also tried their crab linguine alfredo and fire cracker calamari. Though both were very good, my favourite is the crab linguine. It has such a creamy sauce made with roasted garlic and Asiago cheese. Yummy! Green Papaya also serves good Pho Noodles that you would expect from a Vietnamese restaurant.

Stirfried Japanese Noodles

This was a hit! This was the first time that I used these Japanese udon noodles in a stirfry. As usual, I found this a really easy and simple meal. First I marinated minced pork with soya sauce, ground white pepper, sesamee oil and a little sugar. Next I sauteed some minced garlic in a large non-stick pan or wok.

Once golden, I put in the Japanese udon noodles and cook it till it starts to loosen. Push the noodles to one side of the pan and add the pork and fry till pink is almost gone before adding washed bak choy. This time I used both bak choy and yau choy because I didn't have enough of one kind of veg. So I decided to mix it.

Then I just tossed everything together well till the veggies are wilted. Finally I added finely sliced bird's eye chilli and some dark soya sauce. I might have added a little more light soya sauce making sure that the noodles are well seasoned. Reno Man must have had 3 helpings. Another keeper.

Roast Beef with Burnt Butter Mash & Bak Choy

I recently got a hankering for good ole roast beef. Before moving to Canada, I had never made roast beef before. Didn't know how easy it was until Reno Man's mum taught me how and I have been making it the same way ever since.

I normally buy an oven roast from Costco and season it with salt and pepper. Then I make somewhat of a crust/paste for the top using French onion soup. I make it into a thick paste and spread it on top of my roast and put it into the oven for 20 mins at 450F and then turn it down to 375F for the next 25-35 mins depending on the size of roast. I always use a temperature gauge to make sure I get the meat cooked exactly medium rare.

While the roast coooks, I made mashed potatoes and added melted butter that I browned over the stove in a pot. Ofcourse I added some milk, salt and pepper to taste. The burnt butter just adds a buttery nutty flavour to the mash that I love.

For the bak choy, all I did was to wash the veggie and put it into a steamer. Once it was cooked, I added a splash of onion oil, oyster sauce, soya sauce and sesamee oil. Mixed it well and its ready to serve.

Since I love gravy with my mash and meat, I made a green peppercorn sauce using the beef drippings and a regular mix. I love how the pink tenderness of the meat show through, sitting on top of the bak choy and mash. A lovely meal that leaves lots for roast beef sandwiches the next day. The extra gravy makes the sandwiches just perfect.

A Feast Laid Out

Doesn't this Italian feast look fantastic? Granted, its not the best photography but I couldn't resist. Last night we were invited to this lovely meal at Chocolate Girl & Living Sword's home. Knowing what a great chef Chocolate Girl is, we knew we were in for a feast. There was fresh bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, BBQed lamb sausages, BBQed hot Italian sausages, procini ravioli in a tangy lemon sauce, gorgonzola ravioli in what I think was a tomato pesto (yum!), garlic stuffed olives, tomato & mozarella salad and to wash it all down, San Pelligrino orange fizz!

After this yummy meal, a HUGE bowl of red cherries and Rainier cherries, and a plate of Lindt cherry chilli filled dark chocolate. Ho ho ho! These people never hold back on the yummies! All this of course was made perfect by the company and conversation.

Ever play Uno Stacko? Haha. We had such fun with this simple game. It wasn't long before more yummies showed up. Tranditional tiramisu. I was told by the chef that it was his grandmother's recipe who is still in Italy! And the finale, dessert wine. With our bellies filled, hearts connected and spirits high with laughter, we reluctantly departed for the night.

Malaysian Curry Laska

You might be able to tell that I have been craving for food from my country of origin, Malaysia. Not too long ago, my mummy sent me a care package with a bunch of food items that I am still not able to get in British Columbia, Canada. In this package she included a single packet of Curry Laska Paste. Below is what it looks like.

I haven't been feeling too well lately and thought this would be a simple fix. If it didn't live up to my standards, I could always get take out! Now, I have made curry laksa on my own from scratch before but I could never recreate it exactly because of the lack of some ingridients though I came close. I couldn't believe it when I tasted this. This is truely authentic! The only thing missing was the cockels to go with the meal. When I write about this paste, it only gives you the paste to cook the curry soup. The rest of the ingredients like the yellow noodles, chicken, tofu etc are fresh ingredients you have to put together yourself. I was so delighted with this. Not only that, it was so easy too! If I remember correctly, I just sauteed some minced garlic and onions, added the paste and water. Bring to boil and then add tofu and coconut milk. Simmer for a minute or 2 and its ready! HAH! It sure transported me back to the hawker stalls in Malaysia.

Malaysian Mee Rebus

I couldn't believe how close to home this packet sauce tasted. I haven't had this for over 4 years and even when I was back home it was difficult to find a place that made good Mee Rebus.

So I bought this packet mix at Eat-Vancouver. I have seen this before at T&T but never bought it because of the price and also I didn't know if it was any good. At Eat-Vancouver, the price was right and I decided to give a few of their items a try. With this one a success, I can't wait to give the others a try.
This of course is not totally original because of the different condiments I used. But close. I just followed the instructions to a tee (which I don't normally do) and the results were great. I used yellow noodles, boiled egg, pea shoots instead of bean sprouts, fried tofu, cooked shrimp, fish cakes and fried onions to garnish.