Curry Singapore Style

This is what´s left from last night´s dinner with the missionaries.  We were able to feed four missionaries with huge appetites and a family of five.  All the ingredients were gathered from local stores and supermarkets.  This time Ana and I went all out to get the ingredients to fix an authentic curry Singapore style.  She bought a whole chicken, potatoes, carrots and onions.  I went to the local Chinese store and picked up some curry powder, red chilli powder and a can of coconut.  Interestingly enough, Ana also bought a can of coconut milk from a German Supermarket.  So, I used her´s to try it out.  BTW it was both imported from Thailand.
Prepared the potatoes first by peeling them and cutting them into chunks.  Next I added 300gms of sunflower seed oil and fried the potatoes.  When the potatoes turned slightly brown I set them aside.  Next I fried the chicken which was cut into parts by the butcher.  I cooked the chicken till it all turned white.  With a clean wok, I stir fried, garlic, shallots and onions then I quickly added three tablespoons of Madras curry powder and a teaspoon of red chilli powder.  The fragrance of the curry powder enveloped the whole kitchen which means time to add the coconut milk.  Furthermore, I added two more "cans" of water with a chicken stock thrown in.  The liquid should be plentiful, so add some milk and additional water if necessary. Finally, I added the cooked potatoes and let the curry cover the chicken and potatoes.  Allow twenty minutes to cook all the ingredients and there you have it: Curry Singapore style!  I serve with hot bread.

I have created a monster!

Today is Monday 7th of May and I am heading back to work.  Some people might call it a grind or  aday void of challenges,or some are just happy to go back to work.  For me Mondays and Saturdays are not happening days.  Days that are challenging for me are Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.  On these days, I get to fix appetizers, sandwiches and salads for the clients.  I have a fan club that adores my creations.  Well, at about half past twelve till one o´clock, I serve appetizers, light healthy snacks.  For spring and summer, I prepare lots of fruits and juices.  For most of these tentalizing treats, I use fresh fruits and fruits that are in season.  Like for spring I use a lot of strawberries.
This past week,  I built a monster sandwich.  Some of you might be familiar with  those humongous hamburgers or sandwiches, but my boss haven´t heard of it.  Anyway, this is how it all began.
My colleague asked me to fix her a whopping sandwich.  She was hungry and she had a verocious appetite.  So  I took three slices of bread, prepared a tuna mixed with mayonaise, cut up a hard boiled egg and shredded some lettuce.  All three slices of bread have a coat of mayonaise, the first layer has lettuce, then I topped it with tuna mix.  On the second slice of bread, I added the two slices of ham or turkey and topped it with four slices of hard boiled egg.  (The slices have a round shape so it is easy to sit on the sandwich) I interweaved the ham with slices of cheddar cheese. The last layer of bread is to "seal the sandwich."  The option here is to add a slice of fresh green tomato, the kind you use for salads.  And there you have it a whopping Triple!  This is the code word from my colleagues.  "Jeff fix me a "triple."
So my boss walked into the kitchen felt hungry and asked me, Whose sandwich is this?"  I said, "It is for Maria!"  He asked if he could have it.  I said go ahead.  He ate the sandwich in two seconds or shall I say two mouthful or bites.  He asked me what do you call this sandwich?  "It is very good."  I said,  "It is a monster sandwich!"  Will attach a photo soon.  Have a great day!

Today is Monday 29th of April,2012

Today marks the end of the April Fair in Sevilla.  Lots of hoos and aahs but nothing has changed since the inaugaration of the April Fair many, many years ago.  The origin of the April Fair was a get together to show  off their livestock.  For more information about the history and its origins of the April Fair, please go to Wikipedia. Personally, I am not a big fan of the fair.  The objective is to visit the fair get drunk and pay for the rides on the amusement park type rides.  

For me, I used Friday to prepare the marinate for the char siew and on Saturday I fixed Won Ton noodles for my children.  The wonton and charsiew were successful except for the sauce that goes with the noodles.  On Sunday, I baked chocolate chip cookies and used chocolate chips made and sold by a local supermarket called Mercadona.  Since I didn´t have enough chocolate chips, I managed to use old easter eggs and the chips turned out brown in color.  All in all, I had a productive weekend.  I saved some chocolate chips to give to a colleague who is having her birthday this week.

Will include pictures of my cooking adventure soon!

Spring is here

The seeds are budding and the flowers are blossoming.  Birds are chirping merrily and the air is fresh with the smell of Spring.  As we kiss winter goodbye, we embrace spring with a gladsome heart and a joyful smile.  Winter was a tough one for a lot of us, some go through a depression others are still looking for work.  My advice is look to spring and clean out the cobwebs and renew ourselves for a better tomorrow.  First, we thank God for his gentle hand in guiding us and protecting us.  In providing us with food and a place to sleep.  For that we are grateful.
Saturday, spent some time with Gabriel, my number two son and made some chocolate chip cookies.  Not that it came out straight from the box, I prefer to bake things from scratch.  Hard to find chocolate chips here in Sevilla. The ones for baking I mean. They have it in Madrid. People here I guess  tend to eat  chips ahoy, etc. Even the big supermarkets like El Corté Ingles don´t have it on their shelves.  I mean the semi sweet one like Hersheys, etc. The cookies was a small batch.  It turned out okay not burnt!! It was gone the next morning.  Not bad but prefer Mrs Fields´recipe. Will have to make more this week.

We had a tough week.

Just got word that one of our close friend´s son-in-law has Hodgkin´s Lympoma at 2nd stage.  We were stunned.  We hope and pray that with chemo and radiation treatment this yound man will see full recovery.

Our second son, Gabriel who turned twelve last November, received the Aaronic Priesthood and is set apart as Deacon´s Quorum President.  We are proud of him.

Carolina our oldest girl went on a weekend trip to Granada and brought us back some delicious pastry called "pioninos"!  Very sweet.

Daniel,our number one son is occupied with lots of exams, this year he attempts the entrance exams.  Hope he gets in the university and major in something that he has a passion for, physics and computers (informatics).

I have been busy clearing the storehouse at work to make way hopefully for a yoga room.  Meanwhile, at work I have been busy fixing soups and soups for the clients, to keep them warm for the freezing winter.

Looking Forward to Spring.

We are approximately two months shy of Spring.  Hope everyone had a great Chinese New Year feast.
This year we welcome in the Year of the Dragon, the year of the Water Dragon.  Hope it brings in more liquid, the kind that fills our pockets and not make us feel damp!
Have a great year ahead, will be back with more recipes.  In the meantime, eat lots of soup!

Back from Singapore

We visited Singapore in the month of August for three wonderful weeks.  This time our whole family and three nephews were able to make the trip.  The miraculous part was the funding of two extra air tickets coming from my mom and the rest of my family in Singapore.  This is just a teaser photo to whet your taste buds.  From now onwards, I will be adding pictures of our trip and will be describing some of the fabulous meals we had had in Singapore.  We even brought back a wok for my cooking in Sevilla.