The Lord Displines

When I read bloggers raving about this delicious plain looking noodle, Seremban Hakka Noodle, my curiosity got the better of me and I had to cook it to try for myself. This is indeed a very nice, economical, healthy and fast to cook meal. Seremban Hakka Noodle, of course comes from Seremban, the capital of the Malaysian state of Negeri Sembilan.
For this dish, I used ready ground pork which is a little tough. It is important to note that minced pork is not the same as ground pork. In Chinese cooking, pork is often minced by hand using a Chinese cleaver. This is chop continuously until the meat is broken down and can be pulled apart easily, resulting in delicious soft texture which is not dry or crumbly. I will try mincing pork by hand when I make this noodle again.
This noodle must be eaten with pickled green chillies, I repeat, must eat with pickled green chillies. It makes a world of difference which I think must be the crunch and the vinegar taste of the chillies that complement this light noodle so well. Do not leave out the spring onions too.

Seremban Hakka Mee
Recipe source: Baby Sumo

Ingredients
2 pieces Cintan brand non fried broad noodles
100g minced pork
4 cloves garlic,minced
1 tbsp cooking oil
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp chicken stock seasoning
125 ml water
a few drops of sesame oil

To serve
Pickled green chillies
1-2 spring onion,finely chopped

Method

• Bring a pot of water to the boil, add a few drops of cooking oil and salt, and cook the noodles for 3 minutes or until al dente. Drain and divide into two bowls.

• In a large wok, heat the oil over medium high heat. Then, add the garlic and fry for 2 minutes, until fragrant. Add the minced pork and fry for 2 minutes, then add water,chicken stock seasoning and light soy sauce and allow to simmer over low heat for 8-10 minutes. If you like a little more gravy to go with your noodles, you can always add more water.

• To serve, top the noodles with the minced pork with gravy, and some spring onions. Serve immediately with pickled green chillies.

Homemade Asian Pickled Green Chillies

Original recipe source: Amy Beh

Ingredients
300g green chillies
1/2 cup vinegar
1 cup boiled water, cooled
1 tbsp salt
5 tbsp caster sugar

Method

• Wash and drain chillies well in a plastic colander.
• Put on disposable gloves and cut chillies into thin round slices. Remove any seeds that look brownish (if you want it to be less spicy, then remove most of the seeds). Pour warm water over the sliced chillies and leave to sit for 10 seconds. Drain well and place chillies on absorbent kitchen paper.
• Place the sliced chillies in a large glass jar. In a separate bow, mix vinegar, water, salt and sugar until sugar dissolves. Pour mixture into jar to pickle the chillies. The chillies will be ready the next day. Store in fridge until required.

Why Does God Allow Suffering?

This week, we were saddened by the news of two young brothers who died in a road accident. My heart goes out to the mum who lost her only two children while she was at work. She has just started working part time at McDonalds to supplement the family income. The older child, 13 years old had volunteered to pick his younger brother, 7 from school. The brothers were killed instantly when their bicycle was hit by a cement-mixer truck about 300 meters away from their house.

The family are church going Christians. When tragedy strikes, saints and sinners alike, we ask,  Is God fair? Isn't our God is a God of love and why he is indifferent to human suffering? Why is our God not God of Power and can prevent such accident? Why does God allow suffering?

This question was first asked by Job, and has been asked by every believers on earth.
"I will say to God: Do not condemn me, but tell me what charges you have against me. Does it please you to oppress me, to spurn the work of your hands, while you smile on the schemes of the wicked?"
Job 10:2-3

There is no complete answer as to why God allows suffering and we have no right to demand an answer from God. For Job, he too realized that.
"You asked, 'Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?' Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know."
Job 42:3

We may not see God's purpose in our suffering and perhaps not even satisfied with what God has revealed about his purposes in suffering, but there are truths which we cannot deny.
"Because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son" Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?"
Hebrews 12:6-7
"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
John 9:3

The grief stricken mum delivered a heartrending eulogy at their wake. Her precious sons were precious gifts from God who had brought joy and happiness into her life and who also helped save her marriage; It was also her older child who led her to convert to Christianity and through her faith, she managed to hold on to the marriage. Through her sons, she has been blessed.
I could have go on and on, but if this happened to you and me, Can we calmly PRAY and ASK God to give us the FAITH we need to confidently TRUST that he will keep his promises, no matter what circumstances?



"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."                                                        C S Lewis

The Grace of Our Lord

I call these spare ribs Chinese style because there are soy sauce and hoisin sauce in the marinade. They also taste a bit like char siu. This basic marinade for ribs recipe was from a magazine(forgotten which) cut out many years ago. I have since made countless time during festive season because everyone who had it, liked it very much.  The ribs go well with potato mash or rice.
These spare ribs taste best when they're cooked till extra tender which means they'll break into soft flakes and off the bones when you bite into them. To achieve this, I steam the ribs first before basting in the marinade and grilling in the hot oven.

Chinese Style Oven Grilled Spare Ribs

Basic marinade for ribs

Ingredients
1 tbsp sugar
1 small piece ginger, minced
4 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp honey
2 tsp worcestershire sauce
ground black pepper

Method

• Mix all the ingredients together. Make sure they're well mixed. 
• Set aside until you are ready to use the marinade.

Note: This marinade keeps very well. Unused portions may be refrigerated for later use. Apart from spare ribs, they're great for chicken wings, too. For today's dish, I used 774 g of spare ribs, 5 chicken wing mid joints and 2 times the marinade. The spare ribs were first steamed at 45 minutes or till tender. Then put under hot grill and baste every 5-10 minutes, turn over and repeat.

I am submitting this post to Chinese New Year Delights 2013 hosted by Sonia aka Nasi Lemak Lover

" The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus."                                                                                                                1 Timothy 1:14

Children Of God

With the leftover strawberries from my last bake, I make this swiss roll.  I was looking forward to decorating this strawberry swiss roll while mixing the ingredients.  When the sponge was baked,  I was disappointed by the big and tiny ugly holes in the sponge. It could be due to the oven setting at too low heat and the batter heats too slowly,  The gas bubbles might have over expanded before the cake sets and created holes in the cakes (I presume).

Piping strawberry designs in triangular shapes wasn't that difficult, but because I wasn't happy (moody) with the sponge,  I didn't diligently piped in neat rows and in same sizes. Nevertheless, the cake is soft and delicious.

Strawberry Swiss Roll
Adapted from Veronica's Kitchen

Ingredients
Sponge
(A) 3 egg yolks
10g caster sugar

(B)30g fresh milk
28g corn oil

(C)50g plain flour
8g corn flour

(D)3 egg white
35g caster sugar

Strawberry ingredient
(E)10g egg white
5g fine caster sugar

(F) edible food coloring (strawberry essence)
(G) green tea powder (pandan essence)  cocoa pwder

Filling for the cake
125g g fresh cream
15g caster sugar
Strawberries cut into 4 halves or into 2 halves


Method I (Sponge)

• Place ingredients A into a mixing bowl, mix well. Add ingredients B and stir and mix until smooth.
• Add sifted flours (ingredient C) into egg yolk mixture until well blend.

Making Strawberry Design

• Lined greased proof paper onto a swiss roll tray.
• take 15g(about 1 tablespoon) from the above premix, add in red coloring.
• Beat ingredient(E) until stiff but not dry. Mix together with the red mixture. Put them in a piping bag.
• Pipe out a few triangle shapes on the pre-prepared swiss roll tray. 
• Bake in preheated oven for 1 1/2 mintues at top temp 190(C) and bottom temp. 180C. (baked at 180C). Remove from oven immediately when is done.

Method II (sponge)

• Beat 3 1/2 egg whites (1/2 egg white is from (E) until peak form but not dry.
• Mix in the egg yolk mixture until well combined.
• Pour into the swiss roll tray, use a spatula to level evenly.
• Bake for 12-13 minutes at 180C
• When cool, spread fresh cream and place strawberries, roll up and put in the fridge for about 20-30 minutes.
• 2 different small bowl fill little cold water. One mix with green tea powder, the other mix with cocoa powder.
• Take out swiss roll, use a very fine brush to draw leaves in green, and cocoa mixture for tiny dots on the strawberries.

Sunday School


This is an answer sheet from a 8 year old boy (from an unchurched home) who has just joined my class.
Praise God!

Who is your school class teacher?
Who is Uncle Leslie?(another Sunday School teacher)
Who is our Prime Minister?
Who is the President of USA?
Who Is Jesus?

"So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male or female, for you all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.                Galatians 3:26-29

Fruit Of The Spirit

Strawberry Fields Forever.  A song by John Lennon, was inspired by his memories of playing in the garden of a Salvation Army house named "Strawberry Field" near his childhood home.(wikipedia)

 I was waiting patiently for strawberries on sale to make this. Am I a cheapskate or being practical? I am just prudent! I got this punnet at almost half price and they still look firm and plump like freshly picked, with bright red color and green caps.
This recipe comes from dailydelicious, a talented home baker whose cakes and pastries look fit to be displayed at any patisserie. Her creations are always artistically arranged and photographed.
I had some problems rolling out the pate sucre because it was too soft even though I chilled it long in the fridge. I like the Creme d'amande a la pistache very much. It is very fragrant and taste like it comes from any good home grown patissierie. It is indeed much faster to make this tart than baking a cake!

Tart Au Fraise Pistache
Strawberry and Pistachio Tart (2  10cm tart pans, with excess)
Dailydelicious


Ingredients

Pate sucre
125 g cake flour
0.5 g baking powder
75 g butter
47 g icing sugar
25 g egg
20 g almond powder
1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Creme d'amande a la pistache
53 g butter
53 g icing sugar
30 g almond powder
25 g pistachio powder
53 g eggs
3 g rum
5 g cake flour

Topping
Fresh strawberries
Strawberry jam (used apricot jam)
Chopped pistachio nuts


Method

• Beat the butter in the bowl until the butter is smooth. Gradually add the icing sugar, eggs,vanilla,mixing until combine.

• Add the almond powder and flour,baking powder and mix until combine. Use your hand to knead briefly until smooth
• Wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180C
• Roll into 4mm thick. Place on tart pan.
• Place all the ingredients for Creme d'almande a la pistache together until combine.

• Pipe into the prepared Pate sucre. (I spooned into)

• Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.
• Let the tarts cool completely

image:Mustardseed

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love,joy,peace,patience,kindness,goodness,faithfulness,gentleness,
self-control"
                                                                                                                           Galatians 5:22-23
                                                                                                                          

A Woman's Heart

Speedy dinner from Donna Hay. This is so easy and fast. No waiting time for the marinade, just brush and put on hot grill. Chicken takes about 5-6 minutes to cook, moist and tender. I like the charred look of this dish and the flavor is awesome. This is an easy to remember recipe, make it once and you probably remember how. This is great for BBQ party too.  A must try for busy cooks!

Spiced Lemon Chicken
Donna Hay Magazine
Serves 4


Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander (cilantro)
2 teaspoons paprika
8 x 125g chicken thigh fillets, trimmed
2 lemons, halved
Thick natural yogurt and spinach leaves to serve


Method

• Place the olive oil, garlic,cumin,coriander and paprika in bowl and mix to combine.
• Preheat a char grill pan over high heat. Brush the chicken with the spice mixture and cook for 5-6 minutes each side or until cooked.
• Serve the chicken and lemon with the yogurt and spinach leaves.

Note: You can serve without yogurt too. I had it with baby gems lettuce sans dressings

Young Mothers Bible Study Group

The church has a bible study group for young mothers to study God's Word together.  It is also a time for these busy young mothers to take a break from their children to fellowship and share parenting tips in the group.
They meet fortnightly on Thursday mornings. While they're studying, their young children will be well looked  after by volunteers. There are about 5-6 children there ranging from 2 to 6 years old.
This morning, I was there looking after the kids. We did story telling, songs and coloring. They also watch a video and play among themselves.
It is indeed very heartwarming to see these young mothers wanting to make time for devotions. Parenting young children, tending their marriages and taking care of homes and, for some, juggling careers outside the homes, seem to completely fill their days. I know, I have been there. It was tough looking after 3 young children on my own without close support. There was no time for God, not even for 10 minutes. It is important to spend time with God, even for a short 10 minutes, give Him your first priority. Having a time for devotional study is a priority that can help everything falls more smoothly into place and it provides spiritual comfort and relief when one needs it.

"A woman's heart should be so hidden in God that a man has to seek Him just to find her."
                                                                      Max Lucado - author, writer and preacher
























                                                                  Max Lucado - author,writer and preacher

Heaven Goes By Favor

You had your Roast Turkey with Stuffing for Christmas, and now that Chinese New Year is approaching, why not have a Roast Chicken with Glutinous Rice Stuffing? This dish makes a nice presentation at your dining table and also saves you time. While the chicken is roasting in the oven, you can prepare and cook other dishes on the stove.

It is also a healthier dish to cook because it is roasted, and have a nice crispy skin without the unhealthy deep frying. The fragrant rice stuffing absorbs the juices from the chicken and keeps the chicken from drying up, giving moist and tender meat.

Roast Chicken with Glutinous Rice Stuffing

Recipe source: Jeremy Nguee

Ingredients

1 chicken, about 1.6 kg

1/2 thsp oyster sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1/3 cup glutinous rice. Soak in water overnight.

1 tbsp dried shrimp, soak in warm water and drain

2 dried mushrooms, soak in warm water, drain and finely slice( or any fresh shitake mushrooms)

1 small can braised peanuts (used 2 tablespoon)

1 tbsp sliced chinese sausage

2 tbsp chopped onion (1 tbsp)

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tbsp oil (1 tbsp)

1/4 cup water

1 tsp salt or chicken stock powder or both(omitted)

sea salt

Method

• Marinate the chicken with the oyster sauce, sesame oil and vegetable oil and set aside while you prepare the other ingredients. You can also do this the night before.

• Fry the shrimp without oil in a frying pan until dry and fragrant. Add the oil, onions and garlic and fry until the onions are translucent. Add the sausage and mushrooms and fry until aromatic. Add the rice and fry until the rice slightly translucent. Add just enough water to ensure rice is damp. Add the salt and seasoning

• Place rice in the cavity of the chicken and secure with toothpicks. Sprinkle sea salt liberally over the chicken.

• Place on a roasting rack and roast at 180C for 90 mins. Let the meat rest for 10-15 minutes before carving.

Note: I need to clear a small pumpkin in my fridge, so I added about 35 gm in the rice. I added ready bought chestnuts too because I love chestnuts with glutinous rice. Rice is one large serving only.(nobody in the family likes glutinous rice).  You can prepare extra rice and adjust the seasonings but you can't stuff all the rice in. Steam extra rice separately and for more flavor you can mix roast drippings with the rice to steam

I am submitting this post to Chinese New Year Delights 2013 hosted by Sonia aka Nasi Lemak Lover

A Quote

Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in.
                                                            Mark Twain - a Biography

Peace I Leave With You

Another way to have your salmon. Serve this as starter or for light lunch with salad. I like the broccoli bits in it for texture. I got this recipe from BBC GoodFood app and would love to try all
the recipes, if possible. I like to refer to BBC GoodFood for cooking ideas. Most of the recipes there are easy to follow and fail proof,  the food always turn out delicious too.

 You can serve these cakes with tartare sauce or sweet chilli sauce.

Salmon and Broccoli Cakes
Adapted from BBC GoodFood
Serves 4


Ingredients

500g potatoes, cut into chunks (less than 500g)
85g broccoli, cut into small florets (less than 85g)
2 poached salmon fillets (baked salmon)
1 lime
Small bunch of dill, chopped
1 tbsp sunflower oil (extra virgin olive oil)
1 tbsp Dijon mustard (omitted)


Method

• Cover the potatoes in salted water, bring to the boil and simmer for 8-10 mins, until just tender,adding the broccoli 3 mins before the end of cooking time.
• Drain, allow it all to steam dry, then roughly mash. Flake the salmon, add half the lime juice and dill with some seasoning, then shape into 4 cakes.
• Heat the oil in a pan and fry the cakes for 3 mins each side until golden. Serve with extra lime wedges and small salad.

Note: You do not need to follow the weight of potatoes, broccoli and salmon exactly. 

Seeking Comfort and Peace

"But the comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance , whatsoever I have said unto you.
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.                       John 14:26,27

Do Not Despise One Of These Little Ones

This is a perfect healthy dish to serve to family and guests at lunch or dinner.  It can be done within half an hour with minimum fuss(grease free!) I like the yogurt dressing, serve it chilled, and you have a refreshing sauce with a nice lime scent and aromatic almonds. A nice change from my usual, normal, unexciting Teriyaki Salmon.

Salmon With Almond-Lime Yogurt Sauce
Adapted from Marin Mama Cooks

Ingredients
salmon fillets, the amount you will get will depend on how many people your're feeding
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup silvered almonds
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
sea salt
1/4cup, plus 1 tablespoon plain Greek yogurt (I used low fat natural yogurt)
1/2 small shallot, very thinly sliced
fresh herbs to top such as parsley, dill, mint or chervil (I used coriander)


Method

• In a small saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat and add the almonds, stirring until they become fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. (I toast in the hot oven for 10 minutes)
• Transfer almonds and oil to a small bowl to cool, then stir in the tablespoon lime juice and season with salt.. Mix in yogurt until fully combined. Chill the sauce (covered) until ready to use.(I combined everything into a small bowl)
• Cook your salmon your favourite way. (I rubbed extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper,lined aluminium foil,  baked in hot oven for 20 minutes)
• To serve, dollop each fillet with the yogurt sauce and sprinkle with the diced shallots and herbs. (I served boiled potatoes and french beans as sides)

Sunday School

After much deliberation, we have decided to split my level class into two groups, separate classroom. There are a few mischievous boys in the class and they are distracting some of the children.  Many times, I have missed some important parts of the lessons due to the noises and pranks they made. I pray that with this arrangement, we have good control of the children, and with lesser noise and interruptions, they can learn and absorb God's Word better in their young hearts.

"See that you do not despise one of these little ones. for I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my father in Heaven."                                     Matthew 18:10