What Christmas Is Really About #2 Grilled Squid On Bagedil With Tamarind Mayo

This Christmas dish #2 has deep frying and open grilling, so expect a little grease in the kitchen. It is a lovely starter with a local twist of  a popular Malay side dish, Bagedil.  Bagedils are deep fried mashed potato patties.  For this dish, diced squid is added for crunch.  Preparation is about 20 minutes with 2 hours resting time, to cook takes about 10 minutes. Serves 6

Good Food Magazine
Ingredients

Bagedil
250g potatoes (steamed and mashed)
100g diced squid
25g fried shallots
25g chopped coriander
200g flour
200g egg wash

Grilled Squid Head
100g squid tentacles
40g sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
20g sambal chilli
3g chopped coriander root

Tamarind Mayo
150g mayonnaise
30 tamarind juice (assam juice)
2g tumeric powder
20g sugar
8g fish sauce
Salt and pepper to taste


Method

• Mix mashed potatoes, squid, fried shallots, coriander evenly and season with salt and pepper to taste. Divide into 10 portions and shape into balls
• Coat potato balls with flour and egg wash in sequence. Deep-fry until golden brown. Drain on kitchen towel and keep warm.
• Combine the ingredients for the grilled squid and let it steep for 2 hours.
• Grill squid tentacles over high heat. Remove and keep warm.
• Prepare the tamarind mayo by mixing all the ingredients evenly.
• arrange bagedil and grilled squid tentacles on skewers. Serve with tamarind mayo.

Note:  Use firm potatoes only like Holland potatoes. Do not use Russet. I omitted  tumeric in the Tamarind Mayo.  

Filled With Christ

As you prepare your home this Christmas, be sure preparation is made to spend time with our Lord Saviour through reading His Word and prayer. Let our hearts be filled with Christ!

'You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.'
                                                                                                      Psalm 4:7

What Christmas Is Really About #1 Cured Salmon With Avocado Puree

It is the special time of the year to gather together and rejoice that Jesus came to earth. Christmas is coming! If you're planning an intimate meal for six or more that needs little preparation, check out my special Christmas menu for you.  Sit back and relax with your guests, to share, reflect and celebrate what Christmas is really about. I will be sharing a six course meal with you, starting with this Cured Salmon With Avocado Purée.
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Cured Salmon with Avocado Puree

Ingredients (serves 6)


500g white sugar
500g salt
1/2 bunch dill, roughly chopped
2 lemons, zested and juiced
2 limes, zested and juiced
1 kg fresh salmon fillet, skin removed and pin-boned
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and julienned
2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

Avocado Puree
3 avocados, peeled and stones removed
1/2 lemon, juiced
30ml cold water
Salt and pepper to taste


Method

• Combine sugar, salt, dill and both types of zest and juice in owl. Spoon 1/2 mixture onto piece of plastic wrap large enough to wrap salmon and spread evenly over area the size of fillet.
• Top with salmon and spoon remaining mixture over other side. Wrap, and then wrap 2 more times. Refrigerate for 24 hours, turning every 6-8 hour. Mixture may leak, so place on tray.

• Unwrap, rinse off marinade under cold water and pat dry with paper towl. Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate till needed.

Avocado Puree

• Place all ingredients (except salt and pepper) in blender and process till smooth. Season with salt and pepper

To serve, use very sharp knife to cut salmon into 5mm slices. You should get around 4 slices per person. Arrange on platter and spoon random daubs of avocado puree over salmon. Arrange apples on platter and garnish with dill. Drizzle olive oil over.

I will share another easy to prepare Christmas dish in my next post.


What Christmas Is Really About

Christmas is really about God's love for us. His gift to all mankind in the coming of Christ, and our eternity.
Christmas is really about Jesus, who was born, suffered and died for the punishment of our sins

Think of the first Christmas gift, of God giving himself, and that is the greatest and most profound gift ever given.

'For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.'    John 3:16

'Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.'             Isaiah 7:14

'May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.'        Romans 15:13

First Christmas Gift

Durians are in season all year round and $10 worth of durian unseeded yield about 1.2 kilograms of flesh. My children  do not take durians and dislike the 'stinky' smell from the fridge where I store them. I have left them tightly covered in the chiller with no other food, but my son still claimed that his milk smell of durian.  The kids complained that the whole house smell like leaking gas ^_^.

This Durian Swiss Roll was adapted from Nasi Lemak Lover whose blog I love to read, and I am very inspired by her cooking and baking.


Decoration Batter
50g unsalted butter
1 tsp corn oil
40g icing sugar
30g egg white
50g cake flour, add more flour if batter too runny, adjust accordingly
Pink food coloring

Method

• Melted butter and corn oil over a double boiler.
• Sift in sugar, stir well.
• Add in egg white, combine well.
• Add in cake flour, mix well.
• Put in color.
• Pipe the patterns onto the swiss roll pan lined with paper
• Chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Swiss Roll Sponge

5 egg yolks

50g corn oil

50g milk

20g caster sugar

85g cake flour

5 egg white

1/4 tsp lemon juice, optional

60g caster sugar

Method

• Lightly whisk egg yolk with sugar.
• Add in corn oil, stir to combine.
• Add in milk, combine well.
• Fold in cake flour, mix well, set aside.
• Add lemon juice into egg white, beat till foamy.
• Gradually add in sugar, beat till stiff peaks.
• Take 1/3 portion of egg white mixture into egg yolk mixture, combine well.
• Pour batter into the lined pan.
• Bake at 160C for 25 minutes.

Durian Cream

300g durian flesh

1 tablespoon milk

100ml whipping cream

1 Tablespoon caster sugar

In the processor, blend durian flesh with the 1 tablespoon milk. Whisk whipping cream with the caster sugar till soft peak. Fold in the durian puree. Mix well

This is the best sponge method and I will use this recipe for other swiss rolls.

First Christmas Gift

'Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.'  Isaiah 9:6  

Jesus Christ was God's Christmas Gift, and God never gives anything but the best!  

'Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.'

James 1:17

Thanks be unto God for his indescribable gift!'    2 Corinthians  9:15

One Way

I need to clear my fridge and larder before my 2 weeks holiday. In the fridge I have three types of shredded cheese; mozzarella, emmental and parmesan near expiry dates. There is also a pack of diced ham. In the larder,  I have 2 opened bags of pasta, penne and farfalle. I have also stocked a few cans of mushroom soups which I use not for soup but for some gratin dishes like baked broccoli, baked rice and pasta.
With these stocks to clear,  I make a quick dinner of Baked Penne Pasta for 4

Ingredients

400g Penne pasta
1 can  mushroom soup + 1 can of water
100g diced ham
1 small onion, finely chopped
Any leftover cheese for topping
Ground black pepper to taste


Method

• Cook penne pasta till al dente, about 8 minutes and drained
• Fry finely chopped onion till soft. Add in diced ham. Set Aside.
• Cook mushroom soup with water. Add in chopped onions and diced ham.
• Add pasta into soup and mix.Add ground pepper to taste.
• Top pasta with cheese and bake in oven proof dish for 20 mins at 200C.

One Way

 'One Way God Said  To Get To Heaven, Jesus Is The Only Way'  The Children sing this song many times in Sunday School and many believe that they can get to heaven by doing good deeds. They forget about following Jesus is the only way to heaven.
As I was growing up in the early 70s, my parents who were non believers and my father still is, taught us to believe the way to get to heaven, one must do good deeds and most importantly must be obedient and filial to one's parents. Well, that's not wrong teaching, except they did not know who can lead me the way to heaven. "How can we know the way?"




Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."       John 14:6

During the 70s, Haw Par Villa was one of the must visit place in Singapore for tourists and locals alike.  During Chinese New Year, many families would go to Haw Par Villa. As children, we were often brought to view the 'Ten Courts of Hell' to see what hell is like, and the kind of punishment and torture
in there. We were also 'threatened' by the adults to send us there if we misbehaved. That was scary to me, as a child growing up in the early 70s.


Pictures show Chinese mythology  'Ten Courts of Hell' in Haw Par Villa.

'This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'     Matthew 13:49-50
                                    

A House Blessing

Dean & Deluca opened in Singapore six months ago and last week was the first time I had my meal there. The menu is quite extensive and I ordered an American Country Breakfast from the All-Day Breakfast menu. I shared the meal with daughter M because the portion was huge.  The American Country Breakfast has Scrambled Eggs, Bacon, Hash Brown, Sausage, Sauteed Portobello Mushroom, Vine-Ripened Cherry Tomatoes and Toasted Farmhouse Multi Grain Bread. I also ordered a Triple Mushroom Soup.
My daughter enjoyed the scrambled eggs because it was velvety smooth with the right consistency of cream and eggs. The mushroom soup tasted ordinary and was a bit over priced.

I ordered a Raspberry Vanilla cupcake because I wanted to try the cake. I do bake cupcakes and like to try cupcakes from shops to improve and compare my own.
The cupcake is not overly sweet but was a disappointment. The vanilla cake is dry and the raspberry cream is ordinary. I had a small  bite and my daughter didn't even want to finish it.

After our meal, we checked out their products because I was looking for a house blessing gift. They were all beautifully packaged and very suitable as gifts for culinary loving friends, but were insanely overpriced. I did not get anything from there.

The December issue of  Asian Edition of BBC Good Food magazine has a delicious breakfast recipe similar to Jamie Oliver's One Pan Breakfast.

Full English Potato Cake (serves 6)

Ingredients
.1.5 potatoes, diced into 1 cm chunks
4 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
4 spring onions, finely chopped
2 thyme sprigs, leaves stripped, plus 1 sprig left whole
25g butter, melted, plus extra for greasing
12 rashers streaky bacon
3 large plum tomatoes, halved
cracked blacked pepper
6 medium eggs
buttered toast, to serve


Method

• Bring a big saucepan of salted water to the boil. Tip in the potatoes and simmer until almost tender, about 20 minutes. Drain really well and steam dry for a few mins. Return to the pan and toss with 2 tbsp of the oil, the spring onions, thyme leaves and lot of seasoning.

• Grease your largest baking tray with some melted butter and press the potatoes into it. Put a baking sheet on top and gently press down to squash the spuds into a cake. Cover and chill until ready for breakfast.
• Heat oven to 220C. Drizzle the melted butter and remaining oil over the potato cake bake for 30 mins until golden.
• Add the bacon in a few piles and bake for another 15 mins. Dot over the tomato halves and the remaining thyme sprig, sprinkle with plenty of pepper, then crack the eggs among the gaps and bake for 5-8 mins, depending how you like your eggs.

• To serve, cut the potato cake into portions and pile onto 6 plates, along with the eggs, bacon, tomatoes and some buttered toast. 

Note: I made half recipe and you can add mushrooms and sausages if you like. The cost of making this breakfast is less than $5 for 3 persons.  The breakfast at Dean & Deluca is $22.














A House Blessing

I was invited to a friend's house blessing and it was my first time witnessing a Christian house blessing. Pastor Y conducted the occasion and we started by singing a few praise songs, a short scripture reading, message by the Pastor and testimony by the host, closing prayer followed by a buffet dinner.
The affable host, M gave a heartwarming testimony of thanksgiving expressing his gratitude and gratefulness to God for blessing him and his family through his years of struggling from an average educated person with an average income to a company boss with a nice, big landed house. It is something he will never dreamed of and he revealed that 25 years ago, Pastor Y had also conducted his first house blessing when he got married. It was a small government flat, sparsely furnished with borrowed furniture. Today, his two children have grown up and one has completed her university studies and working in a bank. M, the Lord has certainly 'Bless thee and keep thee'  Number 6:24.

I wrote 2 Samuel 7:29 on the gift tag.

'Now be pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever in your sight; for you, Sovereign Lord, have spoken, and with your blessing the house of your servant will be blessed forever."