Day 181 : Oven-Baked & Grilled Chilli-Stuffed Selar Fish

 OVEN-BAKED & GRiLLED 

CHiLLi STUFFeD SeLAR FiSH

This evening, our family members will be coming over for dinner. My mother is cooking minced meat thai-style and sze chuan soup. 

Bryan and I are preparing pilau rice (see Day 174) and chilli-stuffed fish. Very easy to do. Absolutely kindergarten.

3 Simple Steps: 

1. Blend & Fry Ingredients.

2. Stuff the Fish.

3. Bake & Grill the Fish.

Ingredients : Tomato, red chillies, lemon grass, 

curry leaves, cili padi (bird's eye chilly), garlic, 

onions and tumeric (orange).

 1. Blend the Ingredients. 

(except for the curry leaves)

 Blended chilli ingredients.

Add seasalt, shoyu and brown sugar.

Squeeze lime juice over.

 Fry the Ingredients.

Heat cooking oil in a pan.

Saute chopped shallots. Add cumin seeds.

Add the blended chilly ingredients.

Toss in a handful of curry leaves.

2. Stuff the Fish.

Slice 2 sides of the fish to make a pocket.

Stuff the pockets with the fried chilly ingredients.

Layer the oven dish with 

aluminium foil for easy cleaning later.

Arrange the fish for baking in the oven.

 3. Bake & Grill the Fish.

The oven is pre-heated at 200 degrees C.

BAKE for about 40 - 45 minutes.

Thereafter, switch to GRILL mode 

and grill for another 10 - 15 minutes.

 Decorate with lemon slices, carrot flowers, 

spring onion sticks and cherry tomatoes.

The aroma is simply amazing!

Here's my plate with the fragrant pilau rice, chilli fish 

and mum's thai-style minced meat with vegetables.

 Here's Bryan's plate ...before piling up! :D

 Sze chuan soup.

Everyone enjoyed the dinner very much.

The combination is just excellent.

Absolutely finger-lickin' delicious! :D

 Bon Appetite! :D

Day 174 : Christmas Eve Dinner (6) Vanilla Cheesecake

Vanilla Cheesecake 

with Hobnob's Cracker Crust and Blueberries

Best served after overnight refrigeration.

by Carol & Justine :D

Carol and Justine are attempting to bake 

their first cheesecake.

Ingredients

1 packet of Hobnob's Oatmeal Biscuits

1.5 tbs of butter (softened)

750 g cream cheese

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 tbs vanilla essence

230 g sour cream

4 eggs

1. Pre-Heat oven to 175 degrees C.

2. Crumble the oatmeal biscuits with a potato masher. 

Use your fingers to crush it further to a finer texture.

 3. Butter the cake pan. Make a flat base with the crushed crumbs.

The crumb-base should look compact and sealed-in.

 I didn't know the cream cheese comes in this form.

Did you?

4. We haven't got an electric mixer. So, let's put the hands to work. :D

Beat the cream cheese until it is smooth.

5. Add the condensed milk, eggs, sour cream and vanilla essence.

Whip and beat in the mixture until it combines well.

Taking turns to whip the cream mixture.

Almost there ...

Continue to whip it until it is very very very smooth, says Justine.

6. Pour the mixture into the cake pan.

7. Bake for 45 minutes.

Let it cool. Then refrigerate.

7. Carol ties a red ribbon at the bottom of the cake

and scatter blueberries over the top.

Yayyy ... Cake time!!! :D

The cheesecake tastes oh-so-very good. Literally melts in the mouth.

The blueberries give it a refreshing twist. The texture is cheesecake-perfect! 

Everyone is enjoying their cake. :D 

Do join us ... :D

Day 174 : Christmas Eve Dinner (4) Salad Delight

SALAD DELIGHT

Here's our Christmas Eve Dinner Dish No. 4. 

A very simple side salad.

Cut half a grapefruit into bite size.

Romaine lettuce, red peppers, green peppers, 

tomatoes, carrots, olives and grapefruit.

Found a can of sweet corn in the cabinet.

Squeeze lemon juice over. 

Add your favourite dressing.

I'm adding a Japanese salad dressing here.

Toss Toss Toss.

Fresh and crisp. :D

CHRISTMAS EVE DINNER 

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Day 174 : Christmas Eve Dinner (3) Pilau Rice

PILAU RICE

1. Saute shallots 

directly in the pressure cooker pot. 

Drop a dollop of butter.

2. Add spices.

star anise, cumin, cardamons and cloves.

3. Add basmati rice grains.

Saute for a minute or two.

Add seasalt.

Add filtered water.

Close the lid and allow the pressure cooker 

to transform the grains. :D

The rice should be ready in 20 minutes or so. 

The rice is absolutely fluffy and tasty.

It goes very well with the lamb curry.

LAMB CURRY

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Day 174 : Christmas Eve Dinner (2) Lamb Curry

LAMB CURRY 
with SOUR CREAM

Bryan is preparing his famous lamb curry with the pressure cooker. We will have the lamb curry with pilau rice. This time, he's gonna add sour cream instead of yogurt.

3 Simple Steps :

1. Saute garlic and shallots.

2. Pressure-cook lamb.

3. Pressure-cook lamb and potatoes.

Spices from top (clockwise) : curry powder, cardamons, cloves, biji galangal, 

star anise, jintan manis (aniseed), jintan putih (cumin), cinnamon stick and peppercorns.

  

Chop lamb into cubies.

Marinate with curry powder, seasalt and pepper. 

We marinate at noon, and cook in the evening.

Other ingredients: garlic, shallots, ginger, tomatoes, 

curry leaves and lemon grass.

1. Saute garlic and shallots.

Add the spices and continue frying.

The aroma is simply amazing!

Add the lamb. Add water.

Add lemon grass. Add curry leaves.
Add seasalt.

2. Pressure-cook the lamb.


Add blended garlic-shallots-ginger.
Close lid. Allow the pressure cooker 
to do its magic.

When the red button drops, open lid.
Add fresh milk. Add potatoes.

Give it a stir.

3. Pressure-cook lamb and potatoes.

Add tomatoes. Add red chilly. 

Add mint leaves.

Close lid and allow pressure cooker 

to cook a second round.

The lamb will be tender since it is pressure-cooked twice, 

whilst the potatoes will be just nice and not mushy.

When the red button drops, remove the lid ...

Add sour cream. Stir to mix.

Ooh, the lamb is amazingly tender,

 the potatoes are soft and creamy.

Totally out of this world! 

CHRISTMAS EVE DINNER

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